Love's Curse
by Eros the Summoner
Summary: Amumu can't take it, she's his light and his best friend, but can he actually feel anything for her or is it all in his head? He doesn't know, and the only place that might is where he first awoke. Shurima. K because... People die but I don't think this story will scar anyone.
1. My Glided Cage

**Hey peoples. I wanted to finish the entire story and slowly publish it but I feel so bad when I just make you guys wait. So, here's the first three. I didn't want to write another 'journey' story, so these are the only real chapters that involve walking really far away. I hope you enjoy these first chapters!**

Amumu felt the words of his summoner echo through his thoughts as he ran through the jungle. He put complete faith in whoever this man was, he had no idea where he was going and could still hear Nautilus' footsteps behind him. He ran into a small bush and received the order to stop. He'd hidden before, sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't and if he had a heart it would have assuredly stopped when he saw Nautilus step into view. His body quaked as the red eyes of his foe scanned the area before he continued on through the jungle. Relief flooded over Amumu as the blue light to recall glowed above him. Then, in one quick flash, "You have been slain," Shen exited the bush, sheathing the swords he had recently used.

"Damnit!" Amumu heard his Summoner yell. He knew it was his fault, nothing felt worse than failing people and it seemed to be all he did.

He re-spawned in a brilliant light and waited as the summoner purchased more items and listened for how his team was doing without their jungle support. The merchant handed Amumu a Sun Fire cloak and he was off again, back into the lonely jungle.

His boots assisted in his speed and he took a red buff before an assistance ping came from the top lane and he was off that way. Jayce was currently the top lane for their team, he was battling with a Nunu, which Amumu always considered more a jungle person, but that didn't matter now. The point was, Jayce was quickly heading back to their turret and Amumu knew he needed to intercept Nunu before he lost his chance. He made it to the bush just outside top lane where Nunu was pressing Jayce hard. Jayce gave the signal to initiate and Amumu launched his bandages to bind Nunu to the spot and kept him there with his curse. Jayce followed up well with a hyper charged shot and finished the Yeti off by bringing his hammer down on Willump's head.

"Nice job" Jayce said before Amumu ran back into the jungle, but Amumu knew he didn't mean it. No one ever really meant the nice things they said to him and the next time he slipped up they'd all hate him again.

The towers went down, minions and champions died, Amumu's team was winning, he just knew that it was no thanks to him but at the same time whenever something bad happened; he felt in his bones that he was the cause. To him, he didn't do well, others did well, he just got in the way and that's how it was.

Late game, his team was pushing down the mid lane and already destroyed two inhibitors. Things were looking good and he had enough health to take on both towers as long as the other team didn't get in the way. The first nexus turret went down just before, "Your ally has been slain" Caitlyn just went down, but… She was behind the team… The rest of his team all looked back to see Nautilus bringing up the rear and the rest of the enemy team charging from behind their Nexus. In a desperate attempt, Amumu bound them all with his Curse of the Sad Mummy as his team dispatched Nautilus and made a break for it. But the enemy was too fast, they killed Amumu and the enemy Lux let loose a beam that took down two more of his team. The enemy pushed down mid lane, all the way through the inhibitor turret, through the inhibitor, blew past both turrets and won the game, all in less than the time it took Amumu to re-spawn.

To say Amumu blamed himself was a gross understatement.

He made his way back into the Institute of War, its stone walls and cold doors seemed to be his only solitude from his shame, its torches and chandeliers were the only pathways he grew comfortable to walk alone. The Institute was his home… But he wished it wasn't. It was his home but it felt like a prison more often than not, like he was stuck here without any real purpose. He wondered where he came from, what his life used to be like and most of all, who he was. But those questions had always plagued him; recently, he had developed a new illness of a question. Could he feel anything but sadness? He only wondered because he had been feeling something else, it wasn't sadness per say, but it was something. Something good, something warm, and he only felt it around-

"Stop right there." A familiarly sweet voice called to him. His bones froze and he did not move out of fear. "Because I'm…"

"Annie…"

"IT!" She cried and charged towards him, his bones remembered how to run and he was off. Then, there is his light in this gilded cage of his. Annie. His best and only friend, her words were genuine, her hugs were the warmest in the world, and her games were the most fun to play. She was the only one who could make him feel the way he did, but…. Could he feel affection? Or even love? He spied a chandelier as he ran and threw his bandages to tangle around it, hoisting himself up where she couldn't get to him. "Amumu! That's cheating!" And he just offered a content laugh in response. "Alright then…" Annie deviously smiled and threw her stuffed bear at the ground, spawning a massive beast of a bear. "Get him down Tibbers," She ordered and giggled. Tibbers did as his master commanded him and picked Amumu off the chandelier and held him in front of Annie. "You're it," She laughed and tapped him on the shoulder. Annie ran off after that and Tibbers once again became the teddy at her side. Amumu dusted his bandages off and gave chase after her.

She was fast, but he was faster. The magic that imbued his bones seemed to give him enough muscle strength to carry him and he knew he'd catch Annie soon. She went left down another hallway, she knew his secret weapon in the game of tag and he was very prepared to use it. Unfortunately for her, the hallway she turned down had no doors and no turns, only stairs. It was Amumu's perfect chance. He launched his bandages and as soon as they made contact, he pulled himself to her with all his might. They collided and rolled down the hallway in a small rolling pile of bodies and laughter until they collided with a firm object.

"Aw… Amumu, you're all wrapped up in me…" Annie called from the floor.

"Sorry…" He said and helped her up off the ground. It was about this time, that they realized that the object they hit was still hovering over them, and the object wasn't an object at all. Rather, it was the big hairy beast Nunu claimed as his best friend. "Oh… Hi Nunu…" Amumu said lowly.

"Hey! Don't bump into Willump like that! You'll make him angry."

"He said he was sorry" Annie defiantly stood in front of the Yeti and its rider.

"I know that! I just wanted to make sure he knew that Wallop could crush him in an instant."

"Well Amumu kicked your sorry butt in the match today" Annie continued to defend her friend, Amumu wasn't sure what to do so he just stood next to her, looking sad as ever.

"Yeah right! We totally won!"

"He had more kills than you!"

"Doesn't matter I still won!"

"You're just a big jerk!"

"And you're a little cry baby!"

"Enough!" A powerful force cut the children off. They all looked where the voice had come front and Ashe stepped forward, her hood down and her white hair flowing at her sides. "What is this disagreement about?"

"Amumu hit Willump!" Nunu said first.

"No, you were in the way of our game!" Annie spitefully countered.

"Please." Ashe silenced them and knelt down to Amumu. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"I… Uh…" He began as Nunu gave him an intimidating look but Annie returned to glare for him. "Annie and I were playing tag and I tripped her and rolled hit Nunu!" Amumu spat out almost too quick for Ashe to catch. "I'm sorry" He added at the end and Ashe just smiled and patted him on the head.

"It's okay" She said warmly. "Nunu, Annie, apologize to each other."

"…Sorry…" Nunu reluctantly said, refusing to look at Annie.

"I'm sorry too…" Annie returned the gesture.

"I guess that's the best I'll get" Ashe shrugged. "Come on you three, you need some food in you,"

"Yes!" Nunu cheered and ordered Willump to follow Ashe. Annie was prepared to follow, but didn't hear Amumu's footsteps behind her and she turned to check on her friend.

"Are you coming?"

"I…" He began.

"Yes you are," She answered for him with a cheery smile and pulled his wrappings to lead him off, as she had done so many times before.

Ashe confused Amumu, sometimes she was the warmest woman in the world, other times she well deserved the title of Ice Queen, it all depended on who she was talking to. She was always kind to him and Annie, but whenever Sejuani showed up she'd turn sour, which confused Amumu, Sejuani was a fierce opponent but didn't really deserve such treatment did she? He didn't know, he just knew Annie was dragging him to the Freljord royalty dining room, which made the traditional mess hall look unfit for even a rat.

As Annie pulled him through the doors, the atmosphere changed almost instantly. Pelts of great animals littered the ground, paintings of warlords and pioneer's of the ice and alters to the Anivia could be found all around the dining room. The walls were stone, the floor was cold, it was as if someone had picked up a piece of the Freljord and attached it to the institute.

"Take a seat wherever you would like," Ashe spoke to the children. "Though, Nunu, I'd be very appreciative if Willump did not sit at the table."

"This is Yeti discrimination!" Nunu protested but ultimately found Willump happy to be away from the rest of the group. Annie let Amumu wrap himself back together and the two took seats near the head of the table, where Nunu sat opposite them. Annie took in the fine dining table, long enough to seat thirty large men, but today, only sat one woman and three children. It was at this moment she realized that, there was no food on such a grand table, just plates and silver ware.

"Um… Miss Ashe?" Annie raised her hand as if she were in school. "Where's the food?"

"It should be arriving any moment" Ashe said with her warm smile. "Simple discussion would pass the time easily."

"Okay!" Annie cheered. "… What do we talk about?"

"Anything you want," The three children looked at each other for a moment, stretching their minds to come up with a topic to discuss until the food arrived.

"Um… The weather?" Nunu put forth.

"That's lame" Annie quickly responded. "How about fire!"

"That's even lamer!" Nunu called out.

"Um… Miss Ashe, I have a question," Amumu raised his hand and caught the attention of the others in his party. "What's Love feel like?" This, Ashe did not expect and was taken aback upon first hearing it.

"Why do you ask?" Was her initial response but Amumu only shrugged. "I…"

"Yeah, I want to know now too," Nunu spoke up.

"Me three!" Annie joined in.

"Alright, calm down," Ashe settled them. "Love is… Love is painful at times, every time your Love is hurt, it's almost like you're being hurt too, just this… Feeling in your chest,"

"Love sucks," Nunu interrupted with a snort.

"But Love is also warmth, there's a sense of… Completeness with your Love, just knowing that someone will be there when no one else will, that no matter what happens, there will always be someone who… Who just loves you simply because you are you." That silenced Nunu. "Love is so many feelings Amumu, I honestly couldn't tell you what it feels like exactly, but when I think of my King… The weight of the world is a tad easier to bear" She finished to the speechlessness of the children. "I don't suppose there's a less serious topic we could discuss?"

"How about dinner?" Tryndamere's voice came from the far end of the dining hall as servants walked in with platters of food. "I see you brought guests,"

"I did, I pray you don't mind,"

"Not at all, the more the merrier," Amumu watched as the Barbarian King approached Ashe and how lovingly he kissed her. For such a powerful warrior on the Fields of Justice, it was nice to see his softer side show.

"Miss Ashe" Annie raised her hand again and caught the attention of the others. "Why don't you have a baby? I bet he'd be the cutest!" As soon as the words left her lips, it was as if she asked to start another Rune War. Both Tryndamere and Ashe fell silent, their faces tightened and it was clear Annie said something wrong. Ashe's eyes fell to the floor for a moment, but Tryndamere cupped her face and picked her back up and he smiled at her.

"I'll go cut you some roast boar." He told her and kissed her forehead.

"Okay," She was still shaken and Annie sunk into her seat a little.

"I'm sorry," She whispered to Tryndamere as he passed and he patted her on the head.

"Nothing to be sorry about, you're fine, I'll cut you piece in a moment." Annie leaned over to Amumu.

"What did I say?" But Amumu just shrugged again.

"Maybe she doesn't want a baby," He guessed.

Nunu and Annie ate to their heart's content, which was a surprisingly large amount, before bidding the Freljord royalty goodbye. Amumu left Annie to go back to his room and walked as slow as physically possible, he did his best thinking when he walked. He thought on what Ashe had said about love. He wanted to believe that this feeling of hope he felt around Annie, was love, that he could feel something other than sadness. But part of him just thought he was being too hopeful, that he was just fooling himself into believing he felt love when truly, he could not feel such a thing. Annie's question, that threw the two adults off so much, did cause him a quick thought, but not enough to really pay mind to it.

He found his way to his room, sorrowfully pushed the door open and sat on the floor. He could sit in the bed, but he didn't see much point. No matter how long he closed his eyes he never fell asleep, he just cried a little more. So, he continued in his thoughts.

The way Ashe described love was similar to how he felt around his red headed friend, but love is usually reciprocated. If she didn't love him, there was no way he could actually be feeling love and there was no way such a girl could love him, it baffled him why she was even his friend. So it must be some other emotion… But what then? If not love, perhaps it was… Happiness? No… His tear never dried, they just slowed down when Annie was around. Ultimately the only conclusion he could come to was; he didn't know. He had no idea to what extent he could feel, he did know anything about himself. Just Sadness. He wanted to believe he could love Annie, that she truly was important to him but he didn't know and he needed to find out.

With all the speed he could muster, he burst out from his room and ran towards Annie's dorm. He ran past guards and champions alike, even Kennen seemed impressed by the little mummy's speed. He made his way through the women's dorms and slammed into the wood of Annie's door, falling on the floor in a slight daze. "Hello?" Annie opened the door to find Amumu collapsed on the ground. "Amumu!" She slapped his cheek a little to wake him up.

He jumped awake. "Oh, hi Annie."

"Hi Amumu," She giggled a little "did you need something?"

"I'm going back to Shurima" His voice was about as excited as it could get, which still wasn't much but it was something.

"Shurima? That sandy place you were born?"

"Well, woke up after being dead, but yes and I want you to come with me" Annie was silent for a moment, as if judging whether or not he was serious.

"Why are you going?"

"Because… I need to figure something out,"

"Figure what out?"

"A thing, please Annie, you're my best friend, I don't want to go without you." Annie went silent again. Her eyes seem to move every time she had a thought, it was the most contemplative he'd ever seen her.

"Okay," She responded with a cheery smile. "Let's go to Shurima"

"Thank you" Amumu tried to smile but failed, Annie got the message though and hugged him.

"Should I pack anything?" Annie asked. "Actually… Are we even allowed to leave?" This didn't occur to Amumu. He looked up at the League guard standing in this hallway, stiff and stalwart he stood. Amumu approached him, looking sad as ever and touched the armor that covered his legs. The guard looked and raised an eyebrow towards the little mummy.

"Can I leave?" He asked in his sad tone.

"Leave?"

"Yes"

"…I… Suppose?" The guard answered, confused by the question.

"Okay, I'm going to Shurima" Amumu said and walked back to Annie.

"Whoa!" The guard stopped him. "You can't just leave the institute,"

"But you said-"

"You have to go down to the head summoners and request an absence notice, just so summoners aren't confused where you are."

"Okay" Amumu continued walking. It was difficult to tell if that saddened him or he was just still sad as ever.

Amumu gathered Annie and they walked together through the institute searching for the Head Summoner, which was far more difficult than it should've been. All the hallways were familiar, but they all seemed to bleed into one. Soon they found themselves in circles and it was already far past their bed time so their wondering woes cumulated into a loud, ear splitting cry, from Annie, which promptly led Amumu to cry, in the middle of the hallway.

Ashe removed her robe and climbed into bed, Tryndamere watched his wife with a heavy heart, he knew her mind was still stuck on the dinner conversations and he could offer no words to comfort her. He just placed a hand on her shoulder, which she responded by intertwining her fingers with his. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"You have nothing to be sorry about my Queen," He lied in the bed next to her and she turned so they were face to face on their pillows.

"But… What will we do without an heir?"

"The answer will present itself, I know it will."

"Can… Can we try again?"

"Tonight? The apothecary said-"

"I know, I know what he said, and yes tonight." She pleaded.

"I… Very well, let us try again" Ashe smiled and passionately kissed Tryndamere in their bed, the kiss did not end as she slipped herself on top of him and-

"Waaaahhhh!" The cry came from outside. That killed the mood pretty fast, and both lovers sat up to see where the cry came from.

"Was that Annie?" Tryndamere asked.

"I have no idea," Ashe slipped her robe back on and hurried herself to the door. "Annie?" She called entering the hallway with Tryndamere as the crying continued. "Annie where are you?" they followed the crying until she found the Dark Child and Sad Mummy wrapped in each other's arms and very audibly crying. "Aw…" She picked up the two and hugged them close.

"Miss Ashe?" Annie said through the tears.

"Shhhh…" Ashe continued to hold them in a sort of rocking motion. It didn't take long to calm the children and their tears were dry soon enough. Ashe set them back on the ground and they looked up to her. "Now, why all the crying?"

"I don't know where the Head Summoner is…" Amumu looked down lowly.

"The Head Summoner?" Trydnamere spoke up. "Why were you looking for him?"

"Amumu wants to go back to Shurima, because he needs to figure something out" Annie answered for her friend.

"What do you need to figure out?" Ashe followed up but Amumu just buried himself further into his bandages. "Well… Let's go see him anyway," She led the way through the hallways until they found a small office with a dainty looking woman behind a desk.

"Greetings Champions" The woman spoke. "How can I be of assistance?"

"Is Maxillian in?" Ashe asked.

"He's asleep, but I'm sure he can take a call from the Queen of the Freljord." And the woman began to play with some magic spell in her hands.

"Not Queen yet…" Ashe whispered to herself.

"Okay, he'll see you now."

"Thank you," Ashe led the children inside the office. At the center of the room sat a man, not in the best shape of his life but could be far worse, his eyes were as gray as his hair and his robes exploded with royal colors of reds and purples.

"Ashe, Trydnamere, Annie and Amumu… You're an odd group to see at 9 o'clock at night." The man spoke with a hardy chuckle.

"Sorry to disturb you," Ashe began. "I just need an absence form."

"Back to the Freljord for you then?" He chuckled again and drew out some paper work.

"Not for me, for Amumu and Annie."

"Excuse me?"

"I want to go to Shurima," Amumu spoke up.

"Well… I suppose that's fine, but Annie cannot go,"

"What!? Why!?" Annie demanded.

"Amumu is dead, nothing can happen to him, but you, dear sweet Annie, you're very much alive and I need you to stay that way. You're very popular here in the League and I'm very content with the peace that's currently residing over Valoran after that Noxians crashed a mile high tank into Demacia… I'll need either a parent's signature or a legal guardian to sign off for you."

"But… My mom and daddy are hiding!" Annie continued to protest. "I can't get their signatures."

"Then, Amumu will simply have to travel alone." The Head summoner concluded. The room fell silent among the four champions. Amumu did not want to be alone again, he never wanted to be alone again, but Annie's parents weren't about to drop out of the sky.

"What if… What if I went with them?" Ashe offered.

"What?" The Head Summoner and Trydnamere said in unison.

"I could provide an escort party; keep Annie safe and fed. I think some time away from the League could do me good."

"If you leave I must go with you," Trydnamere spoke.

"I need you here Love. We can't leave our champions here without direction. I know you'll keep them strong," That caused Trydnamere to back down, but he didn't seem happy about it.

"… I suppose that will do, if it's okay with our children here,"

"Yes!" Annie cheered and Amumu seemed less sad in this moment.

"Very well, Ashe, you are Annie's legal guardian for the next two weeks, I trust that'll be enough time to do… Whatever it is you are planning on doing."

"Yes sir," Amumu bowed.

"You're all free to leave tomorrow morning, now I'm going to bed. If you would all be so kind as to leave my office, that'd be wonderful."


	2. My Journey

Ashe stepped out of the Institute's grand doors, in front of her was a grand stair case and the road to Shurima. The Sun was still low in the day and the wind was almost nonexistent, she watched the silhouetted horizon in all its beauty as the sun slowly rose higher in the sky. The sky was painted in reds and purples, it boded for a good day to come and a good day they would need. She looked down the steps to see the caravan she'd called for already assembled. An ox cart with a month's worth of food, seven well trained and loyal Freljord soldiers and Tryndamere making sure everything was prepared. By their feet, sat Annie and Amumu, she with her little backpack fuller than normal and Amumu, who looked no happier than he ever did.

Annie seemed to be playing with his face, moving his lips into a smile before they would fall back down into a frown. Ashe descended from the stairs towards the caravan, her face graced with a smile, this was what she needed. A trip just to take her mind off of everything that was poisoning her thoughts.

"I know," Annie's voice came and she pulled honey out from her pack. "Here, it's sticky and it'll keep you smiling." She said with confidence and slathered the honey on Amumu's mouth. She held it in a smile until she thought it would become sticky enough before letting his lips go. For a brief moment, Amumu's mouth remained smiling, but the honey wasn't enough and it slipped back into a frown.

"Great… Now my lips and sticky and I can't smile…" Amumu was ready to cry again.

"Oh don't worry, I'll lick the honey off your face" Annie said cheerily.

"No, you will not," Ashe interrupted, disturbed by the idea of Annie licking Amumu. "Here Amumu," She handed him a cloth rag. "Wipe your face off." And he did so.

"Just you wait Amumu," Annie turned back to her pack. "I brought lots of stuff we can try to make you smile!" She cheered.

"They're having fun," Ashe turned to Trydnamere.

"I should hope so, this entire trip is for them" He chuckled. "Are you sure you must go alone?"

"Yes, but I will return, and then we will try again"

"I like the sound of that," Trydnamere turned to his guardsmen. "Well men, this is it. Keep yourselves fed and train every day, and if anyone of you attempt to violate my Queen… She'll kill you long before I get the chance to." The men laughed at this, but Annie and Amumu seemed confused. "Goodbye my Queen." He kissed Ashe and stood off to the side while the company departed.

Ashe walked at the head of the caravan, with three of the seven guards next to her. Annie and Amumu climbed on top of the ox and the last four guards took up the rear, it was a good start and a beautiful day.

Trydnamere watched until they all became distant figures in the rising sun and let his shoulders drop and brow fall. "Be safe…" He whispered and turned back to the Institute only to bump into someone as he turned. "Gah! Who in the frozen abyss…" He looked up to Nasus, watching the caravan leave as well. "Out of the way, mutt" He barked at the beast but Nasus remained silent. "Hey, I'm talking to you!"

"Silence Barbarian" Nasus ordered and walked back to the Institute, "Today may be a grim day after all…"

"Knock knock,"

"Annie… Saying Banana over and over again won't make me smile anymore than it did the last time."

"Knock knock," The little girl repeated.

"Huh… Who's there?"

"Orange!" Amumu rose what would've been his eyebrow.

"Orange who?"

"Orange you glad I didn't say banana?" She finished her joke but Amumu didn't even chuckle. "Get it? Cause I said banana so many times." Still nothing.

"Perhaps a more… humorous joke would make him smile." Ashe called back to them with a laugh.

"Don't listen to her Annie, I think your funny, I'm just a really bad audience…" Amumu lowered his head in shame but Annie picked it back up.

"Let's try another joke okay?" She smiled and flipped through a little journal of jokes.

The small band continued through the plains around the Institute, the roads were easy enough to stick to, only stopping twice for lunch and a broken wheel. Annie and Amumu continued to ride on the ox they had named Wiggles, why Ashe had no idea, and Annie continued her fruitless efforts to make the mummy smile. It became clear to even the guardsmen how close the two really were. Every time Amumu put himself down, Annie was right there to pick him back up, every time Annie expressed the briefest amount of pain, Amumu wouldn't rest until she was back to 100%. Their constant games and light hearted talks kept the atmosphere around the caravan light and fresh.

"Hold it." Ashe held up her fist and everyone stopped. She closed her eyes and simply listened around her. Amumu and Annie hopped off Wiggles and stood with Ashe. Seemingly out of nowhere, an arrow flew through the plains, Ashe knew where it was coming from and fired an arrow directly back at it. The ice, cut through the wooden arrow and found its mark inside the heart of some archer who let out a dying cry. The guardsmen raised their weapons and waited to see if there was more.

"Kill them!" A man dressed in rags and rugged armor proclaimed from the tall grass and soon, thirty or so men stood with him. In one massive movement, they all charged. A few more ice arrows zipped into men's heads and chests, but there were too many to stop with arrow fire alone and the warriors fell upon the caravan.

"Play time," Annie evilly grinned and set four of the men ablaze. Amumu let out a yell and bound anyone close enough to the ground, with an opportunity open, seven more of the attackers died. The Freljord soldiers proved to be well above the skill of the rogue warriors and easily cut down any who got too close to their frozen weapons.

Annie finished burning another man to a crisp and looked for what other trouble she could cause when one of the rogue men noticed her abilities and raised his weapon towards her. He violently brought his crude sword crashing towards Annie and he felt the sword tear into a body. The bandit triumphantly looked down to his kill of the little sorceress but only found that he tore through dead flesh and green bandages. Amumu stood, a little more than agitated by the sword currently in his head and Annie behind him. With a cry of rage, the little girl shot a concentrated fire ball and incinerated the man's head, leaving the body to wobble about before it collapsed.

The men who attacked lay dead and the Freljord soldiers seemed quite proud of themselves. Ashe maneuvered her way through the bodies, flipping one over with her foot, too disgusted to actually touch it. "Dovar," She called to her captain and a large man came forward. "Recognize this symbol?" She pointed to the man's chest.

"No ma'am." He reported. The man bore a black scorpion on his chest and all around it were symbols that had unknown meaning. "But their armor is covered in sand… Perhaps they're friends of your mummy." Ashe didn't appreciate the humor, but it did raise questions as to why a band of warriors from Shurima would attack them.

"Hold still…" Annie ordered and grabbed the hilt of the sword currently in Amumu's skull. She tugged on it a little and she could feel it come loose, she kept pulling and it kept coming looser until in one final thrust, she dislodged the sword. Unfortunately, it was a tad heavy for her and she continued backwards with the sword above her head until she fell over.

"Annie!" Amumu cried, though his face was still partially in two and he ran to her side.

"I'm fine," She sat up with a light smile. She looked at the wound Amumu had left on his face, and her smile quickly turned into a frown. "Why do you always have to save me?"

"I'm sorry…" Amumu put his head down.

"Don't be sorry silly" She stood up. "I just don't like seeing you all beat up" and Annie tried to hold the two sides of his face together but when she moved her hands, they slid apart again.

"But I heal… What if you got hurt? It'd be all my fault"

"Well, I guess I just won't get hurt then" She answered proudly. Amumu tried to smile again, her confidence was heartwarming but he still found himself unable to smile. "No more getting hurt for me okay?"

"Okay," Amumu replied in his said tone. The two approached Ashe, as if to signify they were okay but she relatively horrified at the fact Amumu's head currently split open.

"It'll heal" He assured her but Ashe didn't seem to believe him.

"Are you hurt Annie?" Ashe bent down to the little girl.

"No I'm okay, thanks to Amumu" And Amumu came to as close to blushing as he could get. It was at this point he felt the fascia reconnect in his head and the magic that coursed within his body sowed him back together.

"Who were those guys?" Amumu asked.

"I was hoping you could tell me," Ashe handed Amumu the chest plate bearing the sign of the scorpion. Amumu looked it over with his yellow orbs, looking across every detail of the decal. None of it rang any bells in his memory, but then again, nothing really did.

"Sorry Miss Ashe, I don't know who this is."

"Well," Ashe took the decal back. "I guess it's one more reason to go to Shurima." She turned towards her troops. "Let's get moving boys!" She hollered and her men and the caravan began moving once again. Ashe took her position at the front of the band, Annie and Amumu remained on Wiggles. Annie was currently unwinding bloodied bandages and replacing them with fresh ones.

"Aw, I'm out of bandages…" Annie complained. Part of his undead flesh was still exposed. "You're just going to have to wear your knight armor"

"Aw…"

"I thought you liked the knight armor"

"I do… But only when you're my princess" Annie reached into her backpack and pulled out a tiara, delicately placing it upon her head. "My princess," Amumu bowed and adorned his little helmet.

"They're cute" Dovar chuckled to his queen. "Shouldn't we be feeling depressed with that little mummy around?"

"Cutest champions in the Rift, I believe Annie negates his Curse of Sadness, or at least represses it, things are different when they're together." Ashe agreed. "How close are we?"

"Well, that little massacre put us behind by an hour, we'll have to camp soon, that little set back might have moved this two day trip into a three."

"Whatever it takes to keep the two safe, we'll atop that hill,"

"Yes my Queen," Dovar nodded. "My Queen?" Ashe returned her attention to her captain. "Why did you take this charge, if I may, they have no significance to the Freljord unification."

"I…" Ashe looked over her shoulder to see Annie and Amumu, Amumu pointed to a flower and Annie set it ablaze, causing both to erupt in giggles and laughter. "No, you may not ask that Captain."

"Of course," Dovar turned to his men. "Alright boys, one more hill to get over, then get some rests." Which the soldiers responded with a joyous cheers and whipped the ox to move faster.

It didn't take long to set up a camp; the cold air of the night was a brisk breeze to the men of the Freljord. They didn't need tents and most of the men simply set out cots and slept under the stars. The only tent was the one belonging to Ashe, but she didn't necessarily use it to sleep. She stood over a little map of Valoran, Morgon's Pass was still an obstacle, she had heard Vladimir received his 'gifts' there and if anything so dark still lingered in the shadows it could prove difficult to move the ox fast enough to avoid it. However, she didn't see any way around it, other than a two week long walk around the mountains, but they'd be out of food long before then.

"Miss Ashe?" Annie's voice came from below her.

"Hm?" Ashe looked down to find Annie and Amumu hiding under her map table.

"I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings"

"What?"

"Last night… At the dinner, I'm sorry…" Annie held Tibbers behind her, looking as cute as humanly possible.

"Oh, no you didn't offend me, thank you for your apology though."

"Well… If you ever do have a baby, I know you'll be a great mommy" Ashe sat down on the little stool she had next to her bed and Annie came a little closer.

"How would you know that?" Ashe's voice was tired and her words sounded borderline sad.

"Because… You're a great mommy to me, you're like a second mommy"

"Yeah, you're the best" Amumu came out from under the table as well. Ashe looked at their little faces, how sincere their eyes were, how happy they looked, how innocent their posture was, everything that was a child, and everything she wouldn't have. Her eyes started to water, and frozen tear slipped out. It was the first of many and Ashe buried her face in her hands. Annie and Amumu were stricken with worry and immediately wrapped their arms around Ashe, Annie climbed into her lap and hugged her as hard as she could and Amumu affectionately rested her head against her legs. It didn't take long for Ashe to hug Annie back with all her grief.

"I'll never be a mommy." Ashe said with puffy eyes to Annie.

"Sure you will, you'll be a great one." Amumu assured her from the ground.

"No… No I'm barren…"

"Barren?" Annie asked and Ashe pulled away from her.

"It means my body can't have children, even if I wanted to."

"Well… well that's dumb" Annie said with a humph.

"Yes," Ashe wiped another one of her teas away. "Very dumb"

"Well Amumu and I will be your kids until your body stops being dumb." Annie affirmed.

"What?"

"I've always wanted a mommy…" Amumu said in his usual sad tone.

"I can't just… Claim you as my children,"

"Why not?" Annie asked. "You already take care of us lots, and you're the nicest lady in the entire League." She finished and affectionately hugged Ashe "I love you mommy" Amumu came up from the ground and joined Annie on Ashe's lap where they both hugged her warmly.

"I…" Ashe looked at the little bodies so lovingly hugging her. "I'm sorry." She placed Annie and Amumu back on the ground. "I just can't" tears started to form once again and Ashe hurried Annie and Amumu out of her tent. She shut the fabric and two guards took their post in front of the tent, barring the way for both the children. That didn't stop Annie from trying and she ran back at the tent, but the guards did not part for her to pass.

"The Queen wishes to be alone." One of the men sternly told her.

"No she doesn't!" Annie protested. "She's crying! Amumu do something" She turned to her undead friend.

"She wants to be alone Annie" Amumu placed his hand on her shoulder. "She's not really sad, it's just me, I make everyone sad… She'll be okay when she's away from me"

"Maybe you're right…" Annie lowered her head. "Come on Amumu let's go to sleep…"

"Are you cold?"

"A little," She shrugged. "Why do you think Miss Ashe didn't want us to be her children? Do you think she doesn't like us?"

"No… I don't know, maybe she just… Really wants a baby to call her own."

"Maybe…" Annie looked at Tibbers and flopped back onto the ground. "The stars are pretty"

"Yeah..." Amumu flopped next to her.

"Would I make a good mommy?"

"What?" Annie rolled on her side and Amumu did the same so their eyes met.

"When I'm all grown up… Do you think I would be a good mommy?"

"Yeah, I think you would" Annie smiled at this answer and held Tibbers a little closer to her.

"Do you want to be a daddy some day?"

"I… I don't know, what does a daddy do?"

"Well… Daddy's are strong and stern," Amumu didn't think he fit these words. "But they're also playful and nice sometimes, they cook and always love mommy's, they work and teach, they dance and like to sleep, they fight for their families and friends and they never give up. Or… That's what my daddy did while I lived with him… I think you'd make a good daddy"

"Really?" Amumu's eyes became less sad.

"Yeah!" Annie giggled. "We'd be good parents"

"I don't think the dead can have kids…"

"Oh don't be silly, you can have zombie babies!" Her statement horrified Amumu probably more than she realized. "If you… Want zombie babies that is…" Annie attempted to mend her statement and nervously rubbed the back of her head. "I bet they'd be adorable, I'll even help you raise them" Amumu felt another feeling he wasn't sure how to categorize, he felt… Hot, his skin was crawling, but it felt good and wrong at the same time. It sounded like Annie would become a family with him and his body felt… Something because of it.

"I… Need to go to bed" Amumu offered and turned over so he no longer faced Annie.

"Oh… Okay, goodnight Amumu" Annie said and rolled over herself.


	3. My Home

The band set off as soon as the sun once again broke the clouds and bedazzled the sky in an orange light. Back on the road, but something was different. No one spoke, Ashe remained at the head, not saying a word to a soul, the guardsmen circled Wiggles and the two children walked along with the cart, there was no real tension to be cut, simply no one had anything to say. They walked at pace and in direction in silence until the sun was high above their heads as they approached Morgon's pass. The mountain the pass was carved into had an aura of its own, belittling any who approached it and casting a dark shadow those who got too close. The road up the pass started at the base and the sun could be seen through where it was cut, but that was the only real proof the pathway existed at all.

Ashe stood where the path began and examined every inch, as if she was looking for something but found nothing. She motioned her hand for the band to continue and they proceeded up the pass. As they ascended, the think fields of grass that littered the plains and strong trees were replaced by cold stone and trees in the final days of their lives. The path was cragged, rigid and broken, there were more than a few occasions when Wiggles got stuck, and the journey was slow moving to say the least.

Annie watched the surroundings and shadows, the more they walked the more it seemed like the shadows followed them, like the pass itself was aware they were there and it wasn't happy about it. She squeezed Tibbers with all her might as fear crept into her mind until "Annie?"

"Ah!" She yelp and turned where the voice came from, only finding Amumu. "Oh… Uh, Hi Amumu"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm just scared is all..."

"That's okay, I'll always protect you"

"I know, you and Tibbers… But this is a bad place… I can feel it…"

Ashe continued to walk through the rocks and crags, she made little note of the terror emanating from this place, only keeping track of the surroundings. Every pebble that fell, every twig that snapped she made note of. Something was following them and she knew it, but as long as she acted as if she didn't it would be a hell of a lot easier to deal with.

"My Queen" Dovar whispered to her.

"I know, whatever is following us is not as clever as it likes to think. Stay alert." The band continued up the pass, Ashe keeping her eyes trained on anything that moved. They climbed a few more steps until they reached the apex of the pass. It flattened out into a large stretch of land, it was flat and had shrines to ancient gods Ashe had no knowledge of. They all took in the surroundings, everything here seemed to have slightly more life than the rest of the pass, so much so that patches of grass actually grew. Granted, it wasn't much grass but it was still there.

From the shadows slinked a hooded figure, it was shorted than Ashe's shin but its presence could be felt. No doubt a Yordle, it stood in the caravan's way, holding a golden rod that stood three feet taller than its wielder. Ashe halted the band a few feet from the Yordle, and slowly approached it with her bow drawn.

"Tu Tenka." The Yordle said and the caravan inspected its members to see if anyone recognized the words.

"I'm sorry, is that someone's names?" Ashe responded to the figure.

"You are all blind…" The figure whispered to itself and unveiled a throwing knife from its cloak. In the blink of an eye the dagger was flying through the air and collided with Amumu's head.

"Ow!" Amumu cried and touched the hilt. The cloaked figure seemed surprised by Amumu's lack of death and they could all see its eyes widen.

"No… No… I'm too late…" The Yordle called and pulled a golden sword out from its cloak, which was more of a large dagger compared to humans.

"Take it down," Ashe ordered and the Freljord soldier's sprang into action. With their weapons raised high, they attacked the little Yordle, still under the cover of its cloak. The small Yordle didn't even really bother with Ashe's men however, and leaped over all their heads. It was almost comical how the Yordle bounced off each head of the soldiers until landing in front of Amumu, who still had a knife in his head. Before anyone could stop it, the Yordle had thrust its sword through Amumu's body, making it all the way through his back.

"That hurts!" Amumu cried and Annie gasped, but that was the extent of the damage done. With his rage built up and ready to tantrum, Amumu grabbed the attacker by the cloak. The fact that he was impaled in two places of his body did not phase the little mummy, he simply held the Yordle in the air and violently yelled out of pain. "Why are you attacking me!?" As he yelled it, Amumu ran with the Yordle in the air and slammed it against a nearby rock.

"I'm hurt you don't recognize me…" The cloaked Yordle mumbled and let the wind blow off its hood. It revealed a Yordle woman, she looked young, with dark hair, an unusual trait for Yordle women. Her makeup resembled that of an Egyptian and her eyes burned with hatred. "Well, Tu Tenka? Remember me now?"

"I don't even know who Tu Tenka is!" Amumu raged back and threw the Yordle girl to the ground. The girl tried to make her way off the ground but made eye contact with a very vengeful Annie and Ashe's arrow steadily trained on her.

"Now... Who are you?" Ashe asked. The Yordle looked at two, almost comparing her options here, it wasn't like she was dangerous, both her weapons were lodged inside Amumu.

"Very well I surrender…" The Yordle looked away out of embarrassment.

"I feel… Dizzy…" Amumu said and collapsed on the ground.

"Amumu!" Annie called and ran to his side.

"You're beautiful" Were his last words before falling out of consciousness.

"Miss Ashe help Amumu!"

"Dovar, bind this Yordle up." Ashe ordered and ran next to Annie. "Does Amumu bleed a lot?"

"Yeah but he's usually better after a nap"

"Okay…" Ashe dislodged the sword and knife from Amumu's body. "I'm putting you in charge of him, can you do that?"

"Yes ma'am" Annie gave a little salute and went back to Amumu.

"Ma'am" Dovar approached Ashe and she looked to him. "We set the Yordle up in chains, but we have to keep moving if we want to reach the bottom of the pass by nightfall, I hear it gets… twisted after dark."

"Understood, keep four men trained on that Yordle and we'll keep moving."

It didn't take long for the men to set the caravan back up for proper travel and they were all off again. As instructed, four men held chains to the steel collar binding the Yordle and her hands were tied, Ashe continued in front of them all, staying distant and stoic, as if she wanted to distance herself from the rest. Annie and Amumu sat in the cart Wiggles was pulling. Annie had successfully removed the broken armor Amumu had on and got him all bandaged up again. He had yet to wake up, and Annie still wore a worried look as she sat across from him among all the caravan's supplies.

"There's the end of the pass… Shurima lies just beyond." Ashe called to the rest, though she was several meters ahead of them.

"And none too soon," Dovar answered. "The sun is starting to set."

"Excellent, we'll sleep on the sands tonight."

Amumu felt himself wake up, but he didn't open his eyes. He felt something soft against his back, it was warm, but there was cold air above him. It was a familiar feeling, it reminded him of… Home. His eyes shot open, letting their yellow glow shine on the world and he saw the clear sky that could only be seen in Shurima.

"Are you okay?" Annie asked and he rested his gaze on her.

"Yeah I'm okay" Amumu responded, sad as ever.

"You beat up that mean girl really good."

"Did you bandage me up?"

"Yup" She smiled. "And Miss Ashe wrapped you up in a blanket." Amumu took note of the blanket he was in and snuggled deep into it. "Are you gonna come out silly?"

"No" Amumu responded by sinking further into the blanket.

"Okay, hang on" Annie took off her shoes and climbed into the blanket it with him. "If you're staying in here, you're staying in here with me"

"Okay" Amumu responded in his sad tone, but inside, he couldn't be happier.

"An Sheben" The Yordle told her.

"An Sheben?" Ashe repeated. "That's a unique name"

"It's Shurimani." An Sheben bit back.

"Why were you so set on killing Amumu? Are you aware he is already dead?"

"Really? I thought the dead didn't move"

"He's undead, that doesn't answer my question however, why the hatred for him?" But Sheben did not answer. She simply looked over to where Annie and Amumu had tightly wrapped themselves up.

"Daughter?" She asked.

"Don't try and change the subject"

"If you keep Tu Tenka in your company, both you and your daughter will-"

"She is not my daughter!" Ashe snapped loud enough for the entire camp to hear.

"Well… It seems I struck a nerve" Sheben smirked.

"Clearly I'm getting nowhere… I suppose you'll have to just stay there until morning."

"Really?" Sheben asked with fake enthusiasm. "Cause I thought I'd leave, while I'm stuck in a bunch of chains." Ashe disregarded her last comment. "Mark my words Ice Archer! You're going to die, painfully as long as you stay in that mummy's company!" That one, Ashe paid more attention to.

Sheben looked back to where Annie and Amumu were sitting warmly together. She couldn't make out their words, but she was smiling and laughing while he looked almost hopeful while being next to her. It was… Not as it was supposed to be.

"Hey Annie?" Amumu asked from their blanket pile and she stopped her laughing to pay attention. "Do you love anyone?"

"Of course I do silly"

"Really?"

"I love my mommy and daddy. Oh and Tibbers"

"Oh…" Amumu felt the sadness creep back into his heart.

Chapter 4- My Father's Temple

"You're so close now my Son… So very… Very close."

Annie and Amumu approached Ashe in the sand as the guardsmen scrambled to dissemble the camp. The sun was already well above morning and it was clear they had started the day late.

"How could you lose sight of her?" Ashe questioned the two guards she was speaking to.

"We don't know my Queen…"

"Huh… Very well, let's just hope that doesn't come back to bight us in the ass…" Ashe placed a hand on her forehead. She heard a giggle behind her and looked down to see Annie with a funny smile on.

"You said ass" Was all Annie said.

"Don't repeat that word." Ashe instructed.

"What happened?" Amumu asked.

"The prisoner escaped… Still, there wasn't much we could learn from her, how did you two sleep?"

"I don't sleep…" Amumu said in his depressed tone.

"I slept well" Annie spoke up proudly. "Where are we going today Miss Ashe?"

"I have no idea"

"What!?" The children said in unison.

"I have no idea, I was told to get Amumu to Shurima, this is Shurima, I was hoping Amumu could lead us from here."

"Oh…" Amumu looked down at his feet. "Okay, I'll try"

"What exactly did you want to find here?" But Amumu couldn't bring himself to say. Instead he just walked to the front of the caravan and began walking. He wasn't sure what path to take, he remembered the structure he awoke in, but that was the extent of it. So he walked, much like he did when he first awoke. He watched each step make an impression in the sand and didn't even bother to look where he was going.

"How does he know where he's going?" Dovar whispered to Ashe.

"I assume he just knows…" Was all Ashe could say for sure.

"I'll go walk with him." Annie proclaimed but Ashe stopped her.

"Amumu cannot focus on our path if he is enthralled in you."

"Enth- enthra-"Annie struggled with the word. "Enthralled?"

"Please just stay close to me Annie"

Amumu kept his feet close to the sand as he walked and watched the sand form into sand dunes then back into flat land. The wind blew his bandages about, some become unwrapped others tore off. The caravan moved slowly to stay behind Amumu, but it did move along, across the great sands of Shurima.

The sun was beginning to set now, Amumu had walked across the sands effortless and wordless, still having very little idea where he was going.

"Amumu!" Ashe called. "Let's stop for the day!" But Amumu could barely make out the words with the wind passing by his ears. So he kept walking. "Amumu!"

"I'll get him" Annie called and happily ran towards the little mummy. She built up speed and lunged at Amumu in a playful tackle, taking him to the ground. Only, they never hit the sand. As Annie tackled him, it seemed they fell through the sand, into some kind of pit, hidden behind the sand's mists. It took a moment for Amumu to realize what was happening, he knew Annie was currently on his back, and they were still mid fall. Which meant the pit was deep, deep enough to harm Annie, and he would die a dozen times before Annie got hurt. All he could think to do was protect her, so he rotated in the air to make sure that he was directly in between her and ground and waited to slam into the floor.

**And now we wait! For a splat that is, or not, I'm the only one who knows! Muahahahahaha! (*Cough*) I'm also writing a little thing for Valentines day and I have an idea for a serious that I just continuously update. In your reviews I'm looking for three things, but all reviews are welcome. 1. Did I capture the Annie Amumu interaction correctly? 2. Did Ashe's presence seemed forced or even necessary to you? 3. Does the story keep you interested enough to keep reading? Oh, and is a Tumblr a thing I should have? I heard it's helpful but I suck at internet-ing and have no idea what a tumblr is... So yeah! I hope you all enjoyed this and I'll see next week!**


	4. My Father

**Cripes this chapter took longer than I thought to write... Regardless! Here's this, not much to say hope you approve of the past I gave Amumu**

Amumu kept waiting for the pain of the ground to shatter his bones and shatter his tendons, but Annie had other ideas. "Tibbers!" She shouted and threw her bear to the ground past them, instantly spawning her demon bear. "Catch us!" She shouted and Tibbers held out his large paws. Anticlimactically catching Amumu and Annie and setting them on the ground. The pit was deep, Annie looked back up where they fell, the light of the ceiling was but a mere flicker at this depth, Amumu would have no doubt become paste of the hard-tile floor.

"Annie!" Ashe's could heard from where they fell, her voice choked up with fear.

"We're okay Miss Ashe." Annie called back and a sigh of relief could be heard from Ashe.

"Okay, don't move! We don't have any rope long enough to get to you, but we'll find a way down."

"Okie dokie!"

"It's dark down here…" Amumu depressingly commented.

"Come on! Let's see what's around this place" Annie chimed.

"But… Miss Ashe said not to move"

"Well I say we go exploring! Let's go!" She laced her hand with his bandages and pulled him behind her and Tibbers.

The fire that emanated from Tibbers proved to be a far better light source than any torch as they walked the forgotten walls. This place they fell was like no pit, its walls were stone and covered in strange artwork. Its floors were cold tiles bearing unique symbols. Annie had led them down a single hallway, sand was littered across the floor, and they could only see as far as Tibbers' fire would glow.

"I wonder if someone lived here once…" Annie commented. Amumu continued to watch the paintings on the walls, none of them were the same and he found it funny to guess what they were doing though he was clearly wrong. The next one had a bunch of weirdly drawn people shying away from a light, next was a really big crocodile, a lot like Renekton, and the next one was one weirdly drawn person being wrapped in… Bandages. Amumu stopped at this painting and Annie stopped with him. In more detail, it seemed four people were surrounding the person being wrapped; they had already wrapped his legs and had begun wrapping his body. The person being wrapped seemed so willing, by his facial expression, which confused Amumu, why would anyone want this fate? "What is it Amumu?" Annie broke his examination of the odd painting.

"I just… Do you think this is what happened to me?"

"Oh," It was Annie's turn to examine the painting. "Maybe, I don't know, most people are dead before they're wrapped up,"

"Most people stay dead when they're wrapped up…"

"Oh cheer up!" Annie hugged his body, but he just continued to stare at the painting. "Let's go silly" She pulled him along again. They continued to walk down the ever narrowing hallway. The paintings had begun to repeat themselves down the hallway and Amumu's game was over, though he continued to feel pity for the one man constantly bandaged. A large doorway greeted them at the end of the hallway, its green coloring faded and old, with cobwebs dangling from the roof.

"I don't think we should go in there Annie…"

"Quit being a scaredy cat!" Annie cheered and pulled his hand along through the doorway and into an enormous room. The walls seemed to go up for miles, and spanned a wide area around. For what they could see, the room appeared to be circular in shape, with a sort of blue glow to the entire place and in front of them lay several stairs down to a pedestal, surrounded by four pools."Let's go see it!"

"Annie be careful!" Amumu called and followed her down the stairs to the pedestal. She came right up to it and examined every little detail of it. There was some weird writing at the bottom, but Annie couldn't read it, so she ignored it.

"What do you think it says?" She asked, touching the symbols.

"It says, just a drop, and the light will be revealed" Amumu read from the pedestal.

"I… How did you know that?"

"It says it right there, I thought you could read?"

"Of course I can!" Annie defended herself. "Just not that weird language."

"But… That's English" Amumu looked at the words again, they were all crystal clear to him.

"Well… What does it mean? A drop of what?"

"I don't know," Amumu said. "Maybe there's something on the top of this thing…" He went to wipe dust from top of the pedestal, only, as soon as his hand made contact with the surface, pain surged through his hand. As soon as he had touched it, a large needle had launched through his hand and could be seen jutting out of his skin. "Ahhh!" He wailed in a panic.

"Amumu let go of it!"

"I can't!" He said struggling to pull his hand away. As his hand was trapped, the room seemed to come alive. His blood dripped around pedestal and as it did, all the symbols bloomed with brilliant red lights. The lights flowed onto every wall and seemed to outline a doorway was beginning to form from the markers. Soon, the entire room had lost its blue glow, replaced with the red of blood, until the needle retracted itself and Amumu was free once again. The little mummy collapsed on the ground and Annie quickly was at his side. "I'm… I'm okay" He assured her.

"No you're not!" She turned to her massive bear. "Tibbers carry Amumu" And the bear did so.

"Wait…" Amumu stopped them. "What's that sound?" She hadn't noticed it before, but a strange sound had begun. It sounded like uneasy waters, like a tide turning and twisting, only, the only water could be found in the little pools beside the pedestal. Annie watched the pools, the water had begun to stir, but it was not conventional waves, it was as if something was to burst from its surface. Without any warning, a hand shot out from the little pool, only this hand was twisted and deformed, its fingers long and sharp, its skin covered in scars and burns, almost demonic in appearance. Annie let out a yelp and ran back to where Tibbers and Amumu were.

"What is that?" She asked, her shoulder quivering. The hand reached out onto the tiled for and latched on, pulling an equally demonic body out of the water. It almost appeared to be a man, but his legs were gone from his body, his spine hung out like a tail and his head was only a deformed skull. "Die!" Annie screamed and launched a fire ball at it. The creature took the hit and was launched flying back into the pool. It was the first of many however as more hands burst from the three other pools, first there was three… then eight, now twelve and they weren't stopping.

"What do we do?" Amumu asked, struggling to his feet.

"We burn them all" Annie lit her hands ablaze and Tibbers let out a massive roar. One of the creatures leaped at Tibbers, but the Shadow Bear caught the beast and slammed it into the ground, smashing its skull. After that, the hoard engaged, Annie burning them to cinders, Tibbers bashing skulls, and all it took was a tinge of pain to send Amumu into a frenzy of tantrums. They could all fight and fight well, but three against a never ending hoard of monsters is hardly a winnable fight. It took fourteen of them, but the creatures eventually toppled Tibbers and he returned to his teddy bear form, Annie backed on top of the pedestal to get away while Amumu took most of the hits.

Then, the door outlined by the red symbols appears to fracture down the center, and the two sides parted, proving it was indeed, a door. A blinding light came from the doorway which caused all the creatures to hiss and divert their attention. "Return from where you came damned souls!" An unfamiliar voice called and Annie was able to see a Yordle standing where the door was once. A beam of light made contact with the creatures and burned into dust. "Go! Leave this place!" He shot another blast from his hands, eradicating more of them. The creatures seemed to fear this Yordle and quickly returned to the shadows, leaving Annie and Amumu, though Amumu in a far worse state than Annie.

"Aw…!" Annie hopped to Amumu side. "I told you to stop taking hits from me you dummy!" Her voice was angry, but not so much out of rage.

"Sorry…" He said, his bandages were torn, it appeared several of them had sent their spine like tail through his chest and even more had slashed his skin to ribbons. "I'll be okay Annie, I always am"

"Children!" The Yordle called to them and Annie looked up. "What are you doing in this place?"

"Well…. That depends on what this place is?" Annie tried, the Yordle approached them and Annie went to meet him. He was a strange looking Yordle, he was also bandaged, like Amumu, but he had ceremonial armor on and a crown that had long ago lost its glimmer.

"You are in the tomb of Ra-Tenka, I am he who was buried, but you have managed to awake me somehow."

"Oh, it wasn't me, it was Amumu"

"Who?"

"Amumu!" Annie yelled at her friend and he sat up. "Come meet… Re-Tika?" She tried and failed to say his name correctly.

"Okay" He said in his depressed tone. Amumu slowly got up and approached the two, as he did, Ra-Tenka's eyes nearly popped out of undead skull. "Hello Mr."

"Say thank you for saving us" Annie reminded.

"Thank y-" before he could finish, the undead Yordle hugged Amumu tighter than anyone ever before.

"My son! My son has returned to me!" Ra-Tenka.

"What?" Amumu tried to say through the hug.

"Uh, Amumu, do you know him?"

"No…" And Ra-Tenka released Amumu.

"Surely you remember your Father, Tu-Tenka, it's me,"

"Dad?" Amumu tried but nothing resonated.

"Yes! Yes, I am your father! This is fantastic, the plan was a success!" Ra-Tenka seemed to have life restored to his undead bones for just this instance. "We have to get to the Citadel in the Sand!"

"What?" Annie said.

"Why?" Amumu added.

"To fulfill our plans son! Come! We must be off!"

"Stop!" Amumu snapped. "I don't know what you're talking about!" That stopped Ra-Tenka pretty quickly. "I've wondered about my past since the day I woke up and if you are my father, please tell me everything you can about me!"

"…" Ra-Tenka was silent for a moment. "I suppose you'll need to be filled in if we are to continue with our plans… Very well, take a seat Tu-Tenka, I will narrate your life for you."

We are Yordlites. Chosen Yordles of the sands, before the first Rune War, we were a proud people. We marveled in architecture, mathematics, and especially, warfare. My grandfather waged a violent war against every other Yordlite tribe and though many lives were lost, the result was a unified Yordlite tribe. Together, we build grand cities, amazing advances in science and no human tribe could touch us. By the time my father had taken the thrown, it was a time of peace for every Yordlite, we had even begun work to create a great monument to our patron God, Suremond, the monument would grant us great favor with him, but it was not to last. When I took the throne, I took my beloved as my Queen, but I could not see what she truly was, for I was blinded by love. She was a horrible necromancer, every time a slave gave his life for our cause to build our great monument, she would raise his corpse and turn it into those horrible creatures. Eventually, my Queen bore me two children, you and your sister Re-Tenka. You were my son, my true son, you did everything I asked of you and far more. But your sister, she was prey to your mother's influence and the dark arts became her life. The day came when your mother sent her undead army at us, our soldiers fought bravely, but as was the case with you, their numbers were far too great. We developed beams of light to fend them off but it only slowed them down. They stormed our capital and broke down the doors to our palace, your mother and sister at their head. We had lost our entire empire to a wicked woman and her child, I did not know what to do. It was you who came up with this brilliant plan, we entombed the last of our citizens, maybe fourteen thousand men and women or so, and sent them into eternal slumber, only to be awakened by our call. We then entombed ourselves, hoping to wake up when the darkness had passed and rebuild.

"And now that time has come my son! We can rebuild our people!"

"But what about the monsters? They're still here, what if they attack us again?"

"Ah, we too are undead now, they cannot harm us as they once did. Do not worry my son, the Yordlites will rise again, we simply must get to the Citadel in the Sand!" Ra-Tenka walked with a skip in his step and made his way out of the tomb.

Amumu looked at Annie with a raised eyebrow and she just gave him a shrug and they both followed him out.

**Yay! This weekend has been ubber busy... I'm sorry, I'm going to be putting out a oneshot here... Sometime hopefully... But yeah! I'll be posting the other chapters as I find time to do so... Sorry to make you all wait.**


	5. My Kingdom

**I live! And I have the rest of your story for you. Thank you so much for being patient with me, a lot stuff happened, people in my family died, I fell in love, moving on! I wanted to space this out over four weeks, but since life was being a bitch, I thought I'd just give it to all you lovely patient people in stead. Thank you for waiting! And I hope you enjoy my ending... I'm kinda proud of it... Maybe I shouldn't be. **

Annie and Amumu trailed just behind the old Yordle that was Ra-Tenka, his bones creaked with every step, he was adorned in bandages far older and more torn than Amumu's. He seemed in all sense to simply be, an older Amumu. Which would makes sense of a father, but it didn't quiet all seem real to Amumu, like he was just dreaming this. Annie and he would steal glances at each other every once in awhile, but for the most part, the three of them walked the old crypt's hallways. Ra-Tenka stopped about half way through a hall and stared at painting. It was the same one that had captivated Amumu on the way into the crypt.

"Do you remember it, son?" Ra-Tenka looked to Amumu. "This painting was done while they embalmed you, prepared you for your great death." He stared at the painting with a warm smile, remembering a time Amumu could not.

"I'm sorry… I don't" Ra-Tenka looked to Amumu.

"Well that's okay, we'll make new memories, a new empire. There's no need to be down my boy"

"Um… Sir?" Annie spoke up. "Amumu is always sad, he can't help it. Do you have any idea why?"

"What?"

"Yeah…" Amumu sadly admitted. "I only bring sadness to everyone around me."

"Hm…" Ra-Tenka placed an undead hand to his chin. "Perhaps it is a gift from Suremond, the power to bend foes to your will with the power of tears. Brilliant our Lord is." With that Ra-Tenka continued on through the hallway.

"I don't think this is a gift…" Amumu said more to himself.

"Come on, he's getting away" Annie pulled her mummy along.

It seemed that this hallway continuously went up, ever ascending back where the desserts of Shurima. They all walked in near silence, Ra-Tenka continuously humming some unknown tune.

"We've been searching for hours ma'am, there's no sign of another way down." The scout reported to Ashe. She didn't take the news well and simply looked bitter at the news. The scout had no interest in feeling the Frost Archer's wrath and quickly removed himself from her presence. She didn't want to risk trying to get men down there, but from all sources, there was no way to get to them other than that. Perhaps if they could get someone down there with minimum injuries they could guide the children out but… No, no, that wouldn't work. Ashe ran her fingers through her white hair, terrified for the children.

"My Queen!" A Freljord soldier burst into her tent. "We found the children."

"The problem is not where they are, but how we get them out of there" Ashe said in a tired tone.

"No ma'am, I mean…"

"Hi Miss Ashe!" Annie's voice came. Ashe instantly stood straight and turned to see Annie standing without a scrape on, Amumu behind her.

"Annie…" Ashe said mystified. "How did you get out?"

"Amumu's Dad showed us the way" She cheerily said again.

"Who?"

"Ra-Tenka, my father…" Amumu echoed.

"Where is he?"

"Your guards stopped him, he's over there" Annie pointed behind her shoulder and Ashe looked to where she pointed. Outside was a stubby little Yordle, bandaged and all, he did indeed look like an older Amumu. He sat with her guards looking quite content in the sun and apparently looking back at her. "Wanna talk to him?"

"…Yes, very much so, I must thank him for saving you two." Ashe exited her tent and walked right up to the Yordle and looked down on him. Just as short as Amumu, but carried himself in a different manner.

"Hello there" Ra-Tenka greeted and offered an extended arm.

"Um… Hi" Ashe begrudgingly shook the boney figures. "Thank you for escorting the children to safety."

"Oh it was my pleasure, especially for a strikingly beautiful human." Ashe didn't know where the compliment came from and she wasn't sure she liked it.

"Uh, thank you I suppose." She turned back to Amumu, "Are you ready to leave this place yet?" Her words were laced with anticipation.

"Okay…" Amumu bowed his head a little.

"You're not leaving are you!?" Ra-Tenka's voice rang out. "We're so close my son!"

"So close to what?" Ashe asked.

"To our people! The Sand Citadel is only a day's walk from my tomb!"

"What?"

"Apparently Amumu's people were buried because they were all getting killed by a crazy necromancer lady and now Ra-Tenka wants to reawaken them and restore his empire to full power" Annie summarized for Ashe.

"And I want my son by my side when I do this."

"Good, you can take him," Ashe stepped back from Amumu. "Come on Annie, this is no place for a child."

"No!" Annie protested. "I'm not letting Amumu go alone," She stood next to her friend. Ashe looked at the two toddlers, they looked so very cute in this moment and she was next to powerless to Annie's eyes.

"…Fine…" She muttered.

"Really!?"

"Yes…" Annie hugged Ashe's waist.

"Yay! Thank you, thank you, thank you"

"I even smell a threat we're turning around. Is that clear?" Ashe lectured.

"Yes ma'am. Come on Amumu! Let's go resurrect you people!" She grabbed Amumu's bandages and cheerily went forward.

"Okay…" Amumu said as he was dragged on. Ashe stood a moment longer, next to Ra-Tenka, and watched the two play.

"So… Why's he always crying?" Ashe asked Ra-Tenka.

"I do not know, I believe it is a tool from the gods to assist us on our journey."

"Weird tool…" Ashe shrugged and turned to her men. "Alright, pack up! We're moving out!" Which was met by a mix of cheers and groans from her soldiers.

It didn't take long to pack everything up and the band was moving once again, following the directions of Ra-Tenka. His sense of direction must have been incredible because all the sand looked to the same to her, then again ice looks the same to most as well. They began when the sun was right above their heads and had no plans of stopping until it was well below them.

"Okay now you go" Annie said and Amumu looked at his cards. They were playing atop Wiggles back and Amumu was convinced Annie made this game up ten seconds ago.

"Um… Do you have any Spell Caster cards?"

"Go fish"

"But I don't like fish"

"That's just what you say when I don't have the card, pick up a new card."Amumu did so.

"I got a Barbarian War King"

"No, you're not supposed to tell me, dummy"

"I'm sorry…" Amumu dropped his shoulders but Annie just laughed.

"It's okay, just put that card back and get a new one, and don't tell me this time."Amumu did so. "Now, do you have any Death Jesters?"

"No… But I have a Fair Maiden" Annie slapped herself in the face. "I'm so bad at this aren't I?"

"Well… Yes, but that's okay, because I'll turn you into the best Go Fish player in the world." She assured him. "Now draw a new hand"

"Your warriors seemed well trained," Ra-Tenka admired the Freljord soldiers.

"Thank you, they work very hard for me"

"Tell me… Where are your slaves?"

"Freljord doesn't have slaves. Everyone is equal."

"Fascinating… It must be difficult to make people complete monuments" `

"Um… Yes, very difficult."

"The red headed girl is yours?"

"No, I'm just her babysitter"

"You seem to be a very capable babysitter, what's going on in the world since my slumber began?"

"Do you know the League of Legends?"

"The League of what?"

"A lot has happened since you left." Ashe tried to drown out his voice until she recalled something. "Ra-Tenka, we were attacked by a band of soldiers adorning Scorpion banners, would you happen to know who these men are?"

"Perhaps… There was a pocket of insurrectionists who called themselves Shadow Mongers, they did bear the Scorpion seal but that was back when I was alive."

"It's the best lead I've got right now, what about a little Yordle girl? An Sheben her name was."

"I do not know anyone by this name, it translates to our tongue, it means The Last Hope"

"That's… a lot more heroic than I thought her name would mean."

"There! That pillar!" Ra-Tenka pointed to an obelisk standing above the sands. It seemed to only be a ruin, covered in sand and dust, without any true significance, but Ra-Tenka eagerly approached it. Ashe assisted Annie and Amumu off Wiggles, and joined Ra-Tenka at the base of the pillar.

"It's… a ruin?" Ashe guessed.

"Far more, dear archer, just watch, Tu-Tenka I must see your hand" Amumu placed his hand in his father's. Lightning fast, Ra-Tenka removed a knife and sliced it down Amumu's hand.

"Ow!" Amumu cried and Annie took an aggressive step towards the Yordle.

"Calm yourselves, he's fine," Ra-Tenka announced. "Now Amumu, placed your hand on the obelisk." Amumu did so and as he did, the ground started to tremble. It was small and unnoticeable at first but it grew with time until the Freljord soldiers were struggling to keep their feet on the ground. Another quake and all the sand flew off the obelisk. It stood in obsidian glory, reflecting its black color all around. As the tremors ceased and sand rained down upon the men, a small door raised itself in front of where Amumu stood. "Come along then," Ra-Tenka led the party forward.

"We'll set up here" Dovar called to Ashe. "Don't want any unexpected guests coming your way do you?"

"Thank you Dovar." Ashe nodded and turned back to the doorway.

Inside the pillar was on descending stairs. Which wasn't that surprising, it was a skinny pillar, it couldn't house much else. Ra-Tenka led the group down the stairs, lighting torches as they went with his magic. Amumu trailed behind Ra-Tenka, then Annie and Ashe brought up the rear and she had to duck a little to walk through the hallway. Once again as they walked, Ra-Tenka hummed a tune, one none of the others knew but it seemed pleasant enough. Eventually they reached another stone door, with no clear way to open it.

"Didn't you people ever invent a key?" Annie frustratedly called.

"Keys can be lost my dear, no one forgets magic thought," Ra-Tenka told and faced the door. "Ono Comincon!" And the door began to rise.

"What does that translate to?" Ashe asked.

"Open," Which, shouldn't have surprised Ashe. Ra-Tenka walked through the door and into a grand hall. The roof was well above Ashe's head and the ground went along for miles.

"You Yordles went big…" Ashe said, awestricken by the area.

"You've seen nothing yet." Ra-Tenka smirked placed his torch against a wall torch, sparking a change of torches to ignite. As they did, the room became illuminated revealing all its splendors. The walls were decorated in hieroglyphics, brilliant colors that stood the test of time and remained their beautiful shades. All across the floor stood statues, stone statues of Yordles of all shapes and sizes. "There are our people." Ra-Tenka reported and placed his arm behind Amumu. "They miss they're kings." He led Amumu down the steps of the room, onto the floor where the statues stood and marveled at them all. "We will rebuild." He seemed to speak to the statue and touch its face. "Come Tu-Tenka, I will need your hand again"

"Are you going to cut me?"

"Yes, I need your blood, now come here" and Amumu did so. He let his hand hang out and Ra-Tenka slit it, letting the blood drop forward and he began chanting.

Ashe and Annie watched the spectacle with confusion and awe, as if they weren't really there, just spectators to a theatre production of some kind. "I don't like him…" Annie whispered to Ashe.

"Who?"

"Amumu's daddy…"

"Why not? Sure he's weird, I don't think he's so bad though."

"I don't know…"

Ra-Tenka continued to chant his mystic words while Amumu stood next to him, all but clueless as to what he was doing. Suddenly footsteps could be heard racing down the stairs and the three champions looked to the doorway.

"My Queen!" it was a Freljord soldier. "Ashe!"

"What is it man!?" Ashe called back to him.

"The rugged warriors from the beginning of our journey have returned! And they fight with monsters! Dovar and the others were holding them back, but they need help!" Ashe turned to Annie and Amumu.

"Let's go." She said, and the two children followed her up the stairs.

"Wait! Tu-Tenka!" Ra-Tenka called. "If you leave now the magical energy required to raise our people will not be sufficient! They won't come back unless you're here!" Amumu stopped his steps and looked back.

"Amumu!" Annie yelled at him.

"It's my people Annie,"

"People are dying upstairs!"

"But…"

"Come on Annie" Ashe said. "You and I should be able to get them to safety." Amumu looked to Ra-Tenka and back to Annie.

Dovar ducked underneath a blade and countered with a slash of his own. Another warrior fell but there were still so many. Strange creatures fought with the men this time and they proved to be far more trouble than previous. He had already lost two men, and more would follow if help didn't arrive soon. "Ahh!" a sand warrior cried next to him until an ice arrow flew through his eye and he collapsed, dead.

"Fall back inside the pillar!" Ashe called out over them. "Annie! Where's Tibbers?"

"He's not playing right now…" She said, spreading flames across the ground.

"Damn cool downs…" She muttered firing her unlimited arrows through as many skulls as she could. She watched a spear pierce through one of her soldier's chest, it hurt to watch him go down. More were dying, she couldn't shoot fast enough, Annie wasn't powerful enough…

"Keep running!" Amumu's voice sang over the troops. The enemy stopped moving, they stopped everything, they didn't attack or even move. It was enough for all the Freljord soldiers who were still alive to make it inside the obelisk and Amumu shortly followed after.

"Va Shen ka!" Ra-Tenka called and the door slid shut. Dovar was still breathing heavily, blood spattered across his armor and face. They all took roll call, counted the living, mourned the dead. Ashe looked grimmer than anyone. "Foolish, foolish." Ra-Tenka lectured. "I was a fool to think our troubles were over…"

"Are you okay?" Annie inspected Amumu. Amumu looked himself over as well, a few fatal wounds, but nothing too painful.

"I think I'm okay" He turned around to show off the Morning Star mace stuck in his back.

"Oh… Uh…" Annie wasn't sure what to say and just quickly ripped it out.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," She threw the mace to the ground. "Thanks for coming, I thought you wanted to see your people reawaken"

"I did, but I didn't want you getting hurt…"

"Oh you big silly" She smiled and hugged his tiny body. "…Thank you…" Amumu never knew what to do when she hugged him like this. It was different than her other hugs, it was warmer, sweeter, like this one was more important than the others.

"I love you" Amumu let slip.

"What?" She backed out of the hug.

"What?" he responded.

"You said something"

"No I didn't,"

"I'm pretty sure you did"

"no I didn't"

"Well… Let's go find Miss Ashe, but I'm sure you said something" She pulled him along.

"Were those Shadow Mongers?" Ashe questioned Ra-Tenka.

"Yes… Those were the same creatures my wife used against me, it is clear now that not enough has changed that my people can live in peace until they are dealt with."

"Are we safe here?"

"This temple was only safe because it was hidden, now that the Shadow Mongers know where we hide, it will only be a matter of time before they break down our walls. However, yes, for the moment we will be protected."

"Then we must deal with the remnants of these Shadow Mongers." Ashe stood above her soldiers. "Men," They looked to her. "We lost three today, three too many, three that must be remembered, three that will not go without vengeance, these… soldiers, far too unskilled to be called warriors, will pay for their actions and we will show them the Freljord will not tolerate losing their comrades and we will put every last one into the sand they call home." It was a short speech, but it was met with blood thirsty roars from her men. They did not take loss well, and they would punish those responsible.

"Miss Ashe?" Annie tugged at her skirt. "I'm hungry,"

"…Damn…"

The Freljord band spent the night in the obelisk where Amumu's people had been buried, Ra-Tenka feared the marauders were cut down his people as soon as he brought them back and refused to do so until they were dealt with. So this became their base, Wiggles was killed in the attack but they were able to salvage his supplies, they had food and water but if they did not leave soon they would run out. They occupied the lowest level, the statues of Amumu's people were littered across it but there was room to fit the small band.

Annie and Amumu stood over the little memorial they had built for Wiggles, it was simple, just a little rock with the words: "To Wiggles, the best Ox ever to walk the Sands of Shurima"

"I'll miss him…" Annie whispered.

"Me too… Maybe if I-"

"This wasn't on you silly," She turned him to face her. "Do you hear me? It's not your fault."

"I…"

"Say it's not your fault"

"It's not my fault"

"Good," And they went back to silently mourning the Ox.

"Where would they be based?" Ashe asked Ra-Tenka.

"I do not know, I never found them, this" He pointed to all the statues of Yordlites. "Was our last resort, we could not defeat them, we could only outlast them. And we have even failed at that."

"Don't lose faith Ra-Tenka, we'll find a way to put these things down. Just don't know where to start…"

"I remember when they attacked our capitol they did so from the east, or that's where the reports started, the citadel is south of here."

"Do you have a map of your old empire?"

"I believe so…" Ra-Tenka wandered around the massive tomb, browsing through shelves and cubby holes. "Ah, here is one," He pulled the torn paper out with much care and slowly unraveled it. "Yes, this encompasses the entirety of our old empire." Ashe examined it, it was incredible how detailed it was. The Yordlite empire spanned over all of Shurima, with the capitol at the center. Roads once ran through this desert and there seemed to be marked spots of water. Ashe laid it to the floor and inspected it further.

"We're here, in this… Sand Citadel or whatever you called it," Ra-Tenka nodded. "Here's the capitol, what's this region?"

"Unmapped territory, our priests stated that whoever walked there would be cursed. All scouts I sent there never returned and I marked the region as illegal to explore."

"That sounds like the perfect place for a necromancer to raise an army no?"

"It does, but I could not throw soldiers at a problem I barely understood,"

"I do not blame you, alright, we'll begin our search there."


	6. What He Deserves

Annie stared up at the stone ceiling which they had camped under. It was hard to recap how they got here, but it was her bed for the night. The little blanket over her, Tibbers tucked under her arm, she missed home. She rolled on her side to see Amumu had gone, he usually was gone from his bed though. She wondered what it was like for him to live. He couldn't sleep, couldn't laugh, couldn't feel. It doesn't sound fun, but he seemed cheerful when they played, she supposed it was the best he could do. She decided she couldn't sleep and sat up, Tibbers still tight in her arms and looked around the stone crypt. The statues of Amumu's people, their stone faces, all differed from each other, it was hard to believe these statues were alive at some point.

"Now Tu-Tenka," She heard Ra-Tenka's voice.

"Amumu," Amumu's voice corrected him.

"But your name is Tu-Tenka,"

"My name is Amumu" She heard a sigh from Ra-Tenka.

"Very well, Amumu…" She listened where it was coming from and followed the voice around the tomb until she found the two Yordlites conversing at the same alter where Ra-Tenka wished to resurrect his people. "You and I must discuss your current condition."

"Am I sick?"

"You're dead boy."

"You're dead too…"

"Yes, but I remember everything! I remember our grand palace, I remember our vast empire, an empire you were destined to rule! Why do you not?"

"I don't know…" Amumu almost sounded apologetic for his amnesia.

"Perhaps your mother placed a curse on you? Or she ruined our plan with her magic… No doubt this An-Sheben is a descendent of your mother's if she leads this band of heretics. Come here boy, let me have a look at you" Ra-Tenka ordered and Amumu did so. He began to unwind Amumu's bandages, exposing his pale dead flesh. It still bore the scars of their latest scrap, but nothing new. Ra-Tenka placed a hand on Amumu's forehead and closed his eyes. "I… I feel them."

"Feel what?"

"I feel your memories… The ones of us, ones of your true self, I could unlock them for you!"

"Oh... That's okay"

"I… What?"

"You don't have to unlock my old memories, I just want to stop being sad"

"Perhaps you could find a solution to the sad problem if I helped you remember yourself"

"But… Then what would happen to my current self?"

"This is not truly you, Tu-Tenka, just a sad state you exhibit, I'm sure you will be fine as soon as you remember who you are. Here I will try" Ra-Tenka moved his hand back to Amumu's forehead.

"No, no it's okay" Amumu brushed the hand aside.

"Why? What would be so bad about losing this shell of who you are? You have nothing here, I would give you back your strength."

"I already have strength." Amumu affirmed. "I just want…"

"What? What could you possible want your memories would not help you achieve?"

"Her…" Was all Amumu offered.

"Her? I know the Frost Archer is beautiful but she is not worth such sacrifice"

"Not Ashe!" Amumu cried, thinking any relationship with Ashe would be disgusting. "Annie."

Annie's eyes went a little wide at the recognition of her name and she struggled to not make a sound.

"The Dark Child? What makes her special?"

"Everything" Amumu starred longingly into the stone walls.

"You had, several maidens back in life, all of them would willfully marry you in the afterlife"

"I don't care, they wouldn't be Annie and I wouldn't love them… I don't even know if I can love"

"Love is what doomed our empire, dear boy." Ra-Tenka's voice rumbled with what seemed to be anger. "Love has no place in the heart of a Yordlite."

"I came here, to Shurima to find answers, but the only question I needed answered was if I can love."

"What?"

"Can. I. Love? Can I feel it? Can I experience what it feels like to love?"

"You would trade a royal status for a girl? You are a child! You do not understand love even if you could feel it! What's more, you are undead! She will not love you back! Tu-Tenka? Tu-Tenka are you listening to me? This is a selfish pursuit, sacrificing everything we, everything you worked for, over some girl? How does that make sense? Tu-Tenka answer me!"

"It doesn't!" Amumu's tantrum shined through. "It doesn't make sense, but I don't want power or money or other girls… I just want Annie to love me… I just want to know if I can love her."

"She won't, and you can't."

"She never will… But you don't know that. I know, you know nothing about this curse… and I need to find someone who does." Amumu walked away from Ra-Tenka at that point.

Annie finished watching the scene play out and ran back to her bed, threw the blanket over her bed and pretended to be asleep. She pretended as long as she could, until she actually fell asleep on the cold floor. She didn't know what to think and she didn't want to try and figure it out so she slept.

"Annie? Annie dear, it's time to wake up" Ashe's voice broke her sleep several hours later. Annie didn't open her eyes, rather just grumbled and stretched her arms out. Ashe helped her up and she slowly opened her eyes.

"It's too early to do anything…" Annie grumbled.

"I know, but we have to leave soon, my men grow restless, and the sooner we put down these people the sooner we can go home."

"Where's Amumu?"

"He's outside, with my men, you'll see him soon."

"Yeah okay… How far are we walking today?"

"Not far, the uncharted zone of Ra-Tenka's map is only a few hours away."

"I miss Wiggles…"

"I know, Ra-Tenka has a primitive cart we can use to carry water through the dessert, would you like to ride on that?" And Annie just nodded her head at this. "Okay, let's go"

Ashe carried Annie in her arms out into the blinding sun of Shurima. Annie was still half asleep and cuddling against Tibbers when Ashe set her down inside the shady cart. Amumu walked up to Ashe and seemed to wordlessly ask if she was alright.

"She's just tired, come on, you'll walk with me today." Ashe smiled at the little mummy. Ra-Tenka approached Ashe, his bandages almost melting in the heat.

"Good luck, and may Suremond bless you for aiding my people in their only chance at revival."

"Think nothing of it, the Freljord could use all the friends it can get."

"Well you have made a powerful one today." Ra-Tenka smiled and looked over to Amumu. "Are you sure you wish to be going with them?"

"Yes father…" Amumu said sadly.

"Very well, I wish you all the best in killing my Wife's twisted creations." Re-Tenka turned back to the tomb of his people but stopped when he came to the cart Annie rested in. "Young sorceress." He spoke.

"Hm..?" She stirred.

"I saw you last night, I saw you over hear my son's confession."

"Oh…"

"Listen to me… His people need him. I know you don't return his affections, I need you to push him back to his people, back to me."

"What do mean?"

"He loves you… Or he thinks he does, I know he is only being a foolish child. Push him away, you're all that's keeping him tied to this world." With that, Ra-Tenka slowly walked back into his tomb and waved goodbye to the caravan. Leaving Annie to think on what he said.

"Let's move out!" Ashe called and the Freljord warriors began to march.

"…I just want Annie to love me…"

"She won't."

"I know" Annie let the scene play out again with her closed eyes. She felt the cart moving and she didn't know how long she had been lying with her eyes open, simply staring at the shade covering the top of the cart.

"He loves me?" Annie said to herself. She turned to Tibbers with his little tongue out. "He loves me? Do I love him?" She paused, almost waiting for Tibbers' response. "Well he's my best friend." She waited a moment more. "That's a good point, but I still don't know" She waited again, "Shut up Tibbers! That's gross!"

"You're awake!" Amumu's head made an appearance on the side of the cart.

"Oh…" Annie didn't realize how loud she had gotten. "Yeah, but I'm still tired, I think I'm going back to bed."

"Oh…" Amumu quickly returned to his sad tone. "Okay, let me know if you want to play or something…"

"Okay…" Annie turned back to Tibbers and scolded the little bear. "He doesn't even have lips, and kissing is gross." She paused a moment more. "He should be a prince… He deserves to be a prince… Why isn't he a prince of his people?" She waited. "I'm not worth giving up everything for… If he can't see that then we need to make him see that."

"Ashe. Sorry, my Queen" Dovar approached Ashe, with Amumu walking by her feet.

"What is it Captain?"

"I'd like to know why we're doing this," He spoke in a whisper but he was clearly upset by her decision. "Let these Yordles fight over their past, we have lost three good men and for what? A dead people?"

"We don't leave others to their damnation Dovar. I believe we can gain an ally here, one that can help us when the war for Freljord comes, and it will be here soon."

"…I see your reasoning Queen but I do not approve of this action. If we lose a single more soldier-"

"Then it'll be on my head. And I will bear the guilt. But I need you to stay focused and ready for battle."

"I am always ready…" Dovar bitterly fell back into line.

The journey was far shorter than the one to Shurima, but it felt longer. There was no children laughter playing in the background, almost no conversation took place and even the calm groans of Wiggles were missed. It was as if a cloud of despair had hovered over the company and the cheerfulness that had plagued them early on had vanished.

"Here…" Ashe stopped. "This is where the unmarked portion of the map began." The men took in the area, there was nothing new. It was still a sandy wasteland. The sand dunes looked the same, the sand was still tan, nothing about this area seemed to signify this area as forbidden.

"Well… Now what?" Dovar unenthusiastically called.

"I… I don't know…" Ashe admitted. "I thought the path would be clear from here…" The band sat in silence a little longer, the wind whipped through the sand, providing the only sound.

"Well this is just, perfect!" Dovar shouted. "We have come all the way out in the middle of nowhere, to fight a war we have no business in, and now we shall die of dehydration. That's not a warrior's death. That's not how I plan to die!"

"Dovar," Ashe whispered.

"We came out here for children! For a sad little mummy who doesn't even understand how to be alive!" The captain continued his rant. "I will not die like this!"

"Dovar, enough."

"Who of you agrees!? This was not our errand, yet he will die for it. Is this the death you want?"

"Dovar!" Ashe snapped. "I get that you're upset," She approached him. "I get that you are tired, and I understand you are not where you would like to be. But you shall not die here." She was angrily standing over him. "I will not let you die, and we will get out of here, but I will need your strength. Tryndamere assures me you are the best. Now act like it!"

"Annie?" Amumu climbed into the cart. "Annie are you still tired?"

"Go away Amumu…" She muttered and turned on her side.

"Annie are you okay?"

"Just go away"

"But… But…"

"Why did you come here?" She hastily sat and Amumu was dumb struck by her question. "Amumu, why did you want to come back to Shurima."

"I wanted to know more about myself"

"Well now you do!" She raised her voice. "You know where you came from, can we go home now?"

"My people are dead Annie,"

"So!? You don't even remember them!"

"…Why are you being mean?" He said with his sad eyes.

"It's not hard, if you came back to learn more about yourself, then you did! Yay for you, you're a prince! Now go be a prince! Doing anything else is a waste of time, because that's your destiny and you can't change stuff like that. Now either tell me why you wanted to come back here or get out!"

"Because…" Amumu struggled for a reason.

"What's keeping you here? You don't have any family! You don't even have any friends!"

"I thought you were my friend…"

"You thought wrong. I never like you. I just put up with you because Tibbers liked you, but now he doesn't."

"I… I..." Amumu was lost, he didn't know where this was coming from… He didn't understand. Everything was fine yesterday… How did he screw up? What had he done to make Annie so upset? "I'm sorry…" Amumu sadly climbed off the cart while Annie's head was turned to the side. She peaked an eye open as he left and felt regret and pain stain her emotion.

"What's up punks!?" Ashe's eyes widened at the recognition of An-Sheben's voice. All of the soldiers focused on the Yordle girl, their hands on the hilt of their weapons. Annie climbed out of the cart and hugged Tibbers to her chest. "See I was hoping, you'd understand there was nothing here… But clearly you're all too stupid to leave well enough alone." An-Sheben paced around the band. "Now I'm going to give you a choice, leave, like intelligent humans, or stay and die under your master's rule."

"We will not let your injustice carry out any longer." Ashe intimidated.

"Injustice!? Are you mad? Do you understand nothing?" Ashe didn't respond. An-Sheben lowly growled. "Kill them!" She shouted as an undead hand burst from the ground. Then another, and a third until fifteen corpses had climbed from the sand.

"Die Necromancer!" Dovar called and the Freljord soldiers burst into action cutting down the undead. The slow movements of the undead were no match for the prowess of Freljord soldiers, but for every four they cut down, twelve took their place. An-Sheben could be seen behind the growing hoards of the undead, looking unpleased with her minion's performance.

Tibbers struck down another squad of the undead and roared at his victory. "Annie!" Ashe called. "Where's Amumu?"

"I don't know!" She cried back.

"What!?"

"He told his daddy he loved me and his daddy didn't like that so I told him to go away."

"What!?" Ashe repeated, baffled by what Annie had just said. "Duck!" She ordered her soldier, he did so and she launched an arrow through an undead skull.

"This is tiresome…" An-Sheben said to herself. "Enough!" She called and the undead hoard that had amassed fell the ground in a pile of bones and rotting flesh. All the Freljord soldiers looked up again. "You've all proven your strength, but you won't stop me. I was given this duty by my mother and her mother before her. I will not let you bring back the Yordlite empire!"

"We will bring them back! Just you watch!" Annie cried back.

"Wait… Where is Tu-Tenka?" An-Sheben questioned.

"Amumu went back to his people," Ashe guessed based off of what Annie had told her.

"Then I have no use to kill you… I need to find him"

"I won't let you hurt him." Annie stopped her.

"I don't have time for you girl." An-Sheben drew her sword. "You do not understand what's going on." But Annie didn't move. "Very well…" An-Sheben drew a symbol in the sand and upon its completion the ground began to tremble.

"What's that?" One of the Freljord soldiers questioned. A little ways off, something burst from the sand. From here it only looked to be a blur, but it was approaching fast, the ground shaking as it approached.

"Telvasha." An-Sheben smirked. "King of the dessert wyrms. Now if you'll excuse me…" She went to leave again only to have fire dance at her feet.

"You're not going anyway." Annie stood defiant of the Yordle.

"Fine!" She drew her little blade. "I'll kill you and show your corpse to Tu-Tenka!"

Ashe stood with all the soldiers preparing to the worm's arrival. The quakes in the Earth became louder until the worm burst from the sand, its mouth grotesque and vile. Teeth lined its mouth and acidic saliva dripped from each tooth. It was a dull brown color with the only significant feature being it was taller than a fully built Cho'Gath. It dove with unbelievable speed and devoured a Freljord soldier before returning to the sand.

An-Sheben struck with her blade, Annie moved to the left, then right and a little jump to dodge the final swing. She ignited her hands and launched a barraged at An-Sheben who skillfully dodged each while backing up. Fire burned in Annie's eyes and she let her hands stay ablaze. She swung her fist at the Yordle who countered with her sword, but the fire kept Annie's hand safe from the blade. An-Sheben swung again only for Annie to catch it in her burning hand and punch her with the other. "Demon child…" An-Sheben whispered, whipping bruise which held a burn mark with it as well.

"Don't. Touch. Amumu!" She cried and more fired spewed from her body.

The worm had eaten four of the soldier's already and they had yet to touch it. There were only three left, excluding Ashe and Dovar. The worm surfaced again, Ashe fired several arrows into its hide to no avail and it took another soldier down with it. "Damnit!" She cried.

"Its hide is too thick…" Dovar muttered and walked apart from the others.

"Dovar, what are you doing?"

"I hope to all the ice in the Freljord this trip is worth it to you my Queen." He said in a stalwart tone. "Because this is how I choose to die."

"Dovar no!" Ashe cried as the worm surfaced. Dovar gripped his sword and held it to the beast as it dove for him. The worm consumed him, as it had so many others and dove back underground. "Dovar!" But the trembling had stopped. All had gone quiet, until the worm rose out of the ground, roaring in pain and spewing blood on the ground. Its whole body had surfaced from the ground before it collapsed onto the floor in a pool of its own blood.

"GO. AWAY!" Annie burned with anger and threw a massive fire ball at An-Sheben. She gasped at the shier size of it and felt her legs fail her. The ball scorched the sand and incinerated everything in its path, leaving a burning streak in its wake. There was no sign of An-Sheben when it had ceased, but then again, there was no sign of anything. Annie was left heavily breathing afterwards, she looked over the destruction she had caused and smiled at the destruction of her foe. "Now Amumu will be safe" She smiled and fell to the ground, exhausted.

Ashe stood over the body of the worm, she looked it over for any sign that Dovar was still alive, but there was none. She fell on her knees and bowed her head. "So much sacrifice… I… I'm so sorry." The moment seemed to be frozen for a bit. Nothing happened, only the sand's embrace could be heard. The howling winds blew the sand around, but it was only a petty announce to Ashe at this point.

"I wouldn't be." A voice called. "I believe you did excellent work."

"What?" Ashe looked up to see Ra-Tenka, pleasantly smiling. "How did you get here?"

"I took the underground roots, thank you very much for your service Ms. Ashe, but the Yordlite empire no longer needs your services."

"What are you talking about?"

"You killed the last descendant of my wife, which means, the Yordlite empire can revive in peace, under our great god. Suremond. I'm sorry, but this is goodbye." Ra-Tenka slammed his cane into the ground and the worm's stomach burst open. The Freljord corpses walked again, they had decayed rapidly from the worm's digestive system but they were walking and Ashe could still see each of her men's faces in each. "Tu-Tenka is mine once again and you must die. It's all for the good of the empire."

"You bastard." Ashe said through a labored breath.

"Oh, don't be so bitter, your death will cause so much life." Ra-Tenka smirked. "Goodbye now Ms. Ashe."


	7. Truths and Falsehoods

Amumu walked through the sand, he couldn't see, a dust storm had kicked up and he had no idea where he was going. He was sad, sadder than he could ever remember being sad. Because now he had a reason, he never knew why Annie put up with him, now he knew. She didn't, she didn't care for him at all. He should be grateful, maybe she tried to put up with him but couldn't. He couldn't blame her for that, no one could put up with him. He was annoying, he was weak, he was boring, he was trouble, he… He stopped in the sand. "I'm unlovable…" He said and continued in his trail of tears. He felt his foot catch on a rock and he tripped, face planting into the sand and continuing to sob. "I love you Annie… I'm so sorry you can't love me! I'm sorry I'm so pathetic. I'm sorry" He spoke into the ground.

"It's okay my son." Ra-Tenka spoke. "It's okay," He petted Amumu's head.

"She doesn't love me" He cried. "She doesn't even like me."

"Forget about her! You are a Yordlite! We do not need companionship. Come, your people await."

"They're alive?"

"They will be soon, we must hurry."

"Why? I don't care about anything but Annie…"

"Annie…" Ra-Tenka put his head down. "I am sorry my son, but Annie gave her life to kill the threats that plagued our people."

"What?" Amumu's breath became quickened.

"They killed the vile necromancer plaguing our people… But Annie died, as did the Frost Archer."

"No… No, she can't be dead."

"I saw it happen myself."

"No! No! No!" Amumu's tantrum shined. "No! No! she can't be dead!"

"She didn't even like you, what do you care?"

"I…" She didn't love him, she didn't even like him, why should he care? "I…" He sniffled. "I don't." He stood tall. "I only care about our people."

"That's the Tu-Tenka I remember, come along, it's time you met our great God. Suremond awaits!"

Ashe watched as her undead soldiers approached her. Dovar's corpse still bore his face and Ashe felt her hands tremble on her bow. Her two soldiers that remained had already been cut down and joined the ranks of the undead, and Annie was still unconscious. She was all alone. She tried to formulate her arrows but she couldn't summon the will power to do it.

"Die monsters!" An-Sheben's voice rang once again and daggers flew into what was left of Dovar. The little Yordle landed on the corpse's face, removed her dagger and leaped to the next one, felling them one by one until all the monsters lay dead once again. She removed her dagger from the final corpse and scornfully approached Ashe. She stood at the archer's feet looking impatient but then, released a breath and dropped her shoulders. "I wish I could be mad at you for being so stupid…"

"Excuse me?"

"You played right in Ra-Tenka's hand… Like so many others before you."

"Who is he?"

"He's Emperor of the Yordlite people, a cold a ruthless warlord who enslaved the entirety of Shurima."

"Fantastic… I don't suppose you could tell me what's going on?"

"Not here, get your daughter and follow me, I'll get you to safety."

"…She's not my daughter…" Ashe muttered but gathered Annie nonetheless.

Ra-Tenka lead Amumu back into the chamber they had found the statues of his people. The chamber seemed more alive now, the walls glowed red, the floor beat with the heart of a people the statues seemed more alive. The whole room felt different and yet, Amumu felt welcomed. "Soon Tu-Tenka, soon we will rule Shurima, as we used to." Re-Tenka made his was down the stairs and into the central chamber. "Our great god has arrived and soon we will rejoice under him." It was all foreign to Amumu, but he felt like he had been here before.

An-Sheben led Ashe into a cave, it seemed small, but the further they went in, the wider it became, it continued this pattern until he had the width and height of the institute. Fires could be seen in the darkness of the cave and they seemed to span for miles. Crude ropes and construction littered over the cave and it was clear a society was set up here. An-Sheben walked through the crude stairs and streets, people that resembled the Shadow Mongers could be seen all over. They seemed to be the same people, only they did not bear armor and they did not carry weapons.

"What is this place?" Ashe asked, carrying Annie on her back.

"This," An-Sheben turned back for dramatic effect, "Is the Shadow Palace," before she began her history lesson.

My ancestor was Queen of the Yordlites, they were a bloody, barbaric people. Every since they discovered metal they forged weapons to kill. They fought a bloody war against all of Shurima, humans, Yordles, didn't matter, if you didn't associate yourself with the word Yordlite, you died or became enslaved. By the time Ra-Tenka took power, the Yordlites had no one left the rage war with, at least in Shurima, they set their sites outside the dessert, planning to rule over whoever they came into contact with first. Ra-Tenka proclaimed he found a new god, one that spoke to him about where more enemies could be found and he amassed his forces to do so. But a God also spoke to my ancestor, he told her of how to stop the bloodshed and that he'd confront the god egging Ra-Tenka on. The gods fell silent after that, but we never stopped worshipping our protector. My ancestor used the dark magic she had been taught to cast a spell, binding all off the Yordlites into stone coffins, bound for all time. Or until Ra-Tenka finds a way to reverse it, my ancestor then freed the slaves and prisoners, allowing us to form the Shadow Mongers. We keep tabs on all that happens in Shurima, and we vowed never to let Ra-Tenka to return.

"But somehow he escaped my ancestor's magic… I do not know how."

"He died." Ashe spoke. "He said it was Amumu's plan, they died and would awaken to revive their empire… Why is Amumu always sad?" Ashe asked.

"You mean Tu-Tenka?"

"Do you know or not?" Ashe clarified.

"I don't, but I know who would, she can probably help us fix all of this. Follow me." An-Sheben led them through the shanty streets and to the most modern looking building in the entire cave. It looked almost religious, and it glowed in a white aura.

An-Sheben opened the grand door and Ashe followed with Annie on her back. Inside the building was single room, and a small pool at the far end. The water looked clear as crystal and reflected off through the room giving it a mystical feeling.

"What is this?" Ashe asked.

"It's a memory pool, you can talk to the dead with it."

"That's unbelievable."

"Says the archer with a bow made of pure ice…" Ashe didn't respond that time. An-Sheben waded in the pool for a little bit, she sat down the shallow water and waited. It took time before anything happened, and Ashe felt Annie stir on her back.

"Good morning" Ashe whispered to her.

"…" Annie whimpered into her back.

"Annie?"

"I was so mean to Amumu…" Annie whispered. "I thought I was doing the right thing… I thought I was being a good girl, but I messed up, didn't I?"Ashe set her down and saw tears in the little girl's eyes. "I threw my best friend away!"

"Sh…" Ashe assured and hugged Annie, who quickly hugged back.

"How do I fix this Mommy!" Annie cried and Ashe tensed up. "Sorry… Ms. Ashe…"

"No, it's okay," Ashe held her tighter. "I don't know, but An-Sheben does."

"Amumu must hate me." Annie said into her shoulder. "I'm such a stupid face…"

"Hey, Annie, why were you mean to Amumu?"

"His daddy said he'd be a lot happier with his people… but his daddy's evil!"

"Sh." Ashe shushed her. "What was the first part of that again?"

"His daddy said he'd be a lot happier with his people."

"Exactly. You acted out of love for your friend, love that he would be much happier without you, I wish you had told me, I know the mistake of putting others above yourself… But you can't be punished for doing a loving deed. We'll get Amumu back, and you'll see, everything will work out," Ashe smiled. Annie examined the Frost Archer's eyes, she seemed so sure of her words, so honest. She felt the tears return.

"I love you mommy!" Annie hugged Ashe again.

"I love you too…"

"I got it!" An-Sheben stood in the water. The water in front of her began to morph. "Behold, the original woman to stand against the Yordlites, An-Valtil" it rose into a small column in front of her and began to take the shape of a Yordle. First it was fairly basic, simply a blob with hips, but soon details appeared. Hair, figures, nails, toes, eyes, they all took shape in the form of an old woman. "An-Valtil" An-Sheben bowed.

"Stand child" The old woman chuckled. "I am a spirit, nothing more"

"Of course, we need your help" An-Valtil looked up, as if to say proceed. "Ra-Tenka has returned."

"Ah, I always thought he would…" The old Yordle spirit chuckled. "Has he reached the spire yet?"

"He has."

"And what of Tu-Tenka?"

"With Ra-Tenka."

"Oh dear… You must act quickly then."

"What must we do?"

"Kill Tu-Tenka."

"What!?" Annie screamed.

"He was made to be the conduit of magical energy. He will channel life into all the Yordlite soldiers. If he is killed, them Ra-Tenka will have failed."

"We are not killing Amumu." Annie protested.

"An-Sheben who is this girl? And who is Amumu?"

"Amumu is the name Tu-Tenka gave himself after revival. This girl is his bride to be."

"I am not!" Annie cried.

"He calls himself Amumu? Does he remember who he was?" An-Valtil questioned.

"Not from what I've seen, but he is immortal."

"Listen to me." An-Valtil cupped An-Sheben's face. "You must go, now! If you can keep Tu-Tenka from giving power to Ra-Tenka, you may perhaps be able to stop the rise of the Yordlites before it begins. Amass the Shadow Reapers."

"Actually… We're the … Shadow Mongers…" An-Sheben rubbed the back of her neck.

"What? Why? Reapers sounds so much more fearsome." An-Valtil complained.

"It does sound cooler," Ashe added.

"Never mind that!" An-Sheben shouted and ran outside. "I'll need your help." She looked over the Ashe.

"Me? Why me?"

"It pains me to admit but my mother only recently returned to the sand… I'm not used to leading a group of soldiers, let alone an army. I'll assist with my necromancy, but I can't lead these men," Ashe stared at her a moment, the deaths of her former soldiers fresh in her mind.

"I… I don't think you want me leading your forces."

"You are Queen of the Freljord are you not?"

"Yes but in case you forgot, I got all my previous men slaughtered. Over nothing."

"Your men died because you believed you were doing good."

"Yeah," Annie smiled. "Remember? You can't be punished for doing a loving deed." She quoted Ashe's words. "You can lead these people, I know it!"

Ra-Tenka walked through the statues of his people, proud and strong. He made his way to the alter at the head of the chamber and raised a ceremonial alter. "It is almost time, Tu-Tenka."

"I am ready" Amumu said sadly.

"Are you ready to remember who you once were?"

"Yes. I don't want anything to do with this life anymore." Ra-Tenka touched the alter and two large spikes appeared, similar to those of the ones that pierced Amumu's hand earlier.

"Grip the spikes." Ra-Tenka ordered and Amumu did so. "Oh great Suremond! I call to you! That you may appear and grant us the glorious right to rise once again!" He called into the empty room and Amumu felt the spikes he had gripped begin to surge with energy. "It must not be powerful enough… Cry boy!"

"What?"

"You gain power with your tears. Now cry boy!" Amumu thought for a moment, he tried to picture Annie's face again, how angry it was in the sand that day. How much he had hurt her, he didn't even know how, but he must have hurt her. Soon enough his tears flowed forth. The energy could be felt more easily now, it was clear his father was correct. "Still not enough power…" Ra-Tenka muttered.

"Why wouldn't she love me!?" Amumu shouted and his tears became rage. The magical energy poured forth and a visual image burst from the magic.

"Suremond!" Ra-Tenka gloriously beheld. Amumu stared at the being with complete surprise and fear.

"Renekton?" He spoke in his sad tone.


	8. War

The Shadow Mongers proved to be in far greater numbers than Ashe realized. She watched the forces move forward through the sand, their armor was crude, their weapons were poorly cut, but it was the best they could muster. She herself had adorned their armor out of respect, her hood was made of Sand Walker hide, her armor was of wood and only consisted of a breast plate and shoulder guards. Annie stood below her, wearing a Shadow Monger helmet which was far too big for her and she had wrapped Tibbers in bandages. "What our odds of winning?" An-Sheben arrived at her side.

"If this was under any other circumstances I'd retreat." Ashe said grimly. "But these are the circumstances, and the Yordlite people cannot be allowed to the live. We must win."

"Yeah!" Annie cheered.

"Do you remember your job Annie?" Ashe kneeled down to her.

"Yes mommy."

"Good, be careful." Ashe kissed her forehead. "I love you"

"I love you too,"

"There's the Sand Citadel." She pointed to the spire. "We're almost there, perhaps Ra-Tenka is not expecting us."

"Halt!" Ashe cried out over the army. It took a moment, but eventually all the soldiers stopped in their tracks. The ground was quiet and most were confused as to why Ashe had said this.

"Why did we stop?" An-Sheben questioned.

"This is a trap."

"How do you know?"

"It's far too easy, I have a plan." She said with a slight smile gracing her lips.

Amumu stared at the mystical image of the great Croc. Ra-Tenka seemed completely in awe of it, bowing before it but the image didn't seem that impressed by him. "Great Suremond, I beg for your magical aid. Our people lie here, asleep, but you can restore them. Please, let your humble servants do so once again."

"I no longer have this power Ra-Tenka."

"W-What?"

"I am mortal now, my brother has cursed me."

"Then… How will I revive my people?"

"You will not." Renekton boomed through the room. "But he," The image gestured to Amumu. "Will."

"My lord?"

"You're a weakling Ra-Tenka. I need a new vessel, a new priest to carry out my rage."

"Of course my lord, but surely there is a place for me?" Ra-Tenka kept his head low.

"…Perhaps…" Renekton said ominously. Suddenly Ra-Tenka burst into flames. His flesh melting from the bone all while he screamed in agony. "You. Amumu, come here." Amumu let go of his spike and approached him. "You are the sad mummy from the League."

"Not sad." Amumu yelled. "Not any more. I'm mad."

"Perfect…" Renekton slyly said.

Amumu felt something in his arm, like it had to move, like it had punch. It felt strong and eager, like he needed to hit something. The feeling spread to his other arm and down to his feet, and through his spine to his skull. This energy felt like it needed to get out. Like he would explode if it didn't. His once yellow eyes filled with red, and he began to rip off his bandages so that dead flesh could be easily recognized on his body. "You shall be my vessel." Amumu looked at his dead hands and felt the rage burn through him.

"Ahh!" He yelled and slammed the ground. As he did so, red energy surged through the chamber, it flowed through the ground and into each Yordlite statue. The magic embraced each one, burning away the stone until an undead warrior stood in place of the statue. It only took minutes before the entirety of the Yordlite empire was once again awake, undead and eager to kill. "Valoran. Is. Mine!"

"Correction, puppet." Renekton snapped. "It's mine."

"Of course Lord…"

"An army approaches…" Renekton sensed. "The Yordlites are in a poor position to fight."

"Father made preparations lord, the army will die before it reaches our chamber."

Ashe approached the Sand Citadel, a fraction of the army behind her. They marched right in the clearing Ashe designated as a trap, but pushed forward. She kept her eyes trained on the ground, on anything actually, she didn't know what to expect, she just knew Ra-Tenka was cleverer than he allowed her to believe. They made it to the entrance to the spire without any resistance until the door to the Citadel slid open. Behind it, revealed Amumu, but… Not Amumu. He was different, his eyes burned red, his bandages only covered half his face and his torso. His rotting flesh could be seen and his usual sad demeanor was replaced with an aggressive one.

"Amumu?" Ashe questioned.

"Leave. Ms. Ashe, or bow before me."

"You can't be serious… What happened to you?"

"I realized my destiny! This is my true purpose. Valoran will belong to the Yordlites, and you cannot stop it with such a pitiful force."

"I have to try. This is wrong. Amumu-"

"My name is Tu-Tenka!" Amumu shouted and his rage carried into his voice, sending Ashe and several soldiers around her onto their backs. "And you will not stop me." He slammed his foot into the ground and instantly, the dead began to rise around the army, encasing them in a wall of corpses.

"Why are there so many corpses in Shurima…" Ashe muttered to herself. "Fight for all your worth!" She shouted and the Shadow Mongers burst into a fighting. These undead were different, they fought like men, not corpses and they did not die when stabbed. "Remove the head." Ashe ordered which seemed to be the most effective means of killing them.

"Looks like it's show time for us…" An-Sheben spoke.

"I'm gonna name you Wiggles II" Annie said on top of her horse. They weren't all mounted on horses, some on camels, others on ponies or even donkeys but they were the Calvary. More or less.

"Let's go!" An-Sheben called and the army advanced. They charged into the ranks of the undead, skewering several and leaving trails of dead in their path. Annie didn't care for a weapon and hopped off her horse the moment they reached the dead. She threw Tibbers the ground and let the Shadow Bear go to work, tearing things apart but she had a job to do. She burned through the undead hordes until she found Ashe, firing ice arrows through heads at breath taking speeds.

"Ms. Ashe!" Annie called.

"Annie!" Ashe fired off another arrow as a corpse fell back to the sand. "Change of plans, Ra-Tenka didn't show up."

"Then who's leading these bad things?" Ashe gave a disgruntled frown and Annie understood. "I'll talk to him."

"Gah!" A corpse called above Ashe with its axe raised high, until An-Sheben cut it down.

"This going better than I thought it would." She admitted. "Good plan archer. Maybe we should call in the second reinforcements now, just so they can get in on the fun,"

"Not yet, I haven't seen the-"

"Yordlites!" A Shadow Monger called before he was cut down. They were taller than most Yordles, but still stood shorted than humans. That didn't stop them from effortlessly cutting down soldiers. Arrows and swords collided with them but they continued their march of death.

"Fear my people!" Amumu laughed behind them. The Yordlites were pouring from the Sand Citadel and they showed no signs of stopping.

"Fall back!" Ashe called and An-Sheben sounded a little horn she had tucked away. The Shadow Mongers quickly stopped any fighting they were doing and retreated with the upmost haste. Ashe saw Amumu retreat back into the Sand Citadel before she followed after her soldiers.

"They'll be dead soon enough…" Amumu said to himself as he descended back into the spire. He walked back to the center chamber, the image of Renekton had vanished, instead, the great Crocodile himself had transported here, sitting in a bloody throne in all his terrible glory. He sat where the sacrificial alter once lay, now covered by maps and charts of Valoran. Amumu walked back to Renekton's side. "They were no match for your chosen, Lord." He reported.

"Good… I always hated that little archer… With her, morals and ideals of a peaceful future. All misguided lies."

"Of course master."

"Amumu!" Annie's voice rang through the chamber.

"Annie?" He looked around, but did not see her. Seeming to fall from the roof, she landed in front of both him and Renekton.

"Amumu, what are you doing?"

"No… No you're dead." Amumu said in disbelief.

"Clearly she is not." Renekton said impatiently. "Tu-Tenka, correct that."

"…Yes sir." Amumu bowed hesitantly.

"Amumu don't! You don't have to listen to him. He's just a bully."

"He's my friend." Amumu continued to approach her with his fist clutched. "He's the only friend I've ever had."

"I was your friend."

"No… You said we weren't friends. We're not friends. You're the bully." With that he swung with all his rage and collided with her face. Sending her flying across the chamber.

"Amumu…" She struggled to get up, but managed to do so.

"My name is Tu-Tenka."

"Fine…" Annie muttered and set her hands ablaze again. She started simple, launching basic fireballs at him, he didn't dodge them, he didn't even attempt to. He took each of them, and wasn't fazed by any of it. She finished her barrage with a larger ball of fire but Amumu kept walking through that.

"Feel my rage." He said and launched his loose bandages at her, entangling her and propelling him right towards her with his hand in a fist.

"No!" Annie cried and set the bandages on fire, and sending a wave of fire for Amumu to collide with rather than her.

"Ow…" Amumu said, rubbing her scorch marks. "You'll pay for that!"

"Amumu…"

"Tell me why!? What was it about me that made me so unlikable? Why couldn't we have been friends! I thought we were friends."

"We were friends!" Annie shouted back.

"Stop lying to me! You said we were never friends. You just lied the entire time. Just to toy with me."

"No Amumu." Annie doused the fire she had been brewing. "I just said those things so you would go be with your people. I thought they were nice, but they're not. I'm sorry I lied to you."

For a brief moment, Amumu's shoulders relaxed and his eyes softened, but a moment later and he strengthened his resolved and charged again. "I'll kill you!"

"Keep moving!" Ashe cried as the Shadow Mongers retreated behind her. "Come on, come on their faster than they look." Her army made it up a small hill of rock, they all fell behind the hill and took cover, the objective wasn't to hide though, simply tempt.

The Yordlite force was right behind them, their ancient weapons already soaked in modern blood and hungry for more. Ashe stood atop the hill, her bow ready and she aimed it down the center of the Yordlites. She charged the enchanted crystal arrow, and fired it through their ranks. They didn't seem to die, but the arrow was powerful enough to travel through the Yordlite ranks, skewing them on the arrow before pinning any in its path to the walls of the Sand Citadel.

"That's the signal," An-Sheben stood in front of a the third wave of Shadow Mongers. "Third Regiment! Advance!" She called and they ran after the Yordlites from behind.

"Charge!" Ashe instructed her soldiers from behind the hill. There were roughly twelve thousand Yordlite corpses walking about, and only ten thousand Shadow Mongers, but with a dual front battle as well as the added concept of uphill warfare, Ashe thought it was the best shot they could get.

Annie's attacks did nothing, but Amumu couldn't touch her. It was an even match if there ever was one and Renekton was having a laughable time watching the children fight. Amumu swung his fist towards her face, Annie moved out of the way and launched a fire ball into Amumu's face, he recoiled, but there was no evidence he was hurt. He socked her in the gut, which she felt and then threw her across the chamber again.

"Amumu stop!" She cried trying to regain her breathe.

"I can't do that Annie, I don't want to do that."


	9. Ultimate Fate

One Shadow Monger drove his blade threw a Yordlite, to no effect, then three more soldiers sent their weapons into the undead soldier and it roared in agony before collapsing to the ground. As improbable as Ashe found it, they were winning. With teamwork and precise timing, the Shadow Mongers could use their speed and combined strength to kill these abominations.

"Praise the Ice…" Ashe said in disbelief as she watched another Yordlite go down. The battle continued in their favor, it was a good feeling that her plan had succeeded and she launched a few more arrows into the battle.

Annie tried once again to summon fire, but nothing came. She didn't feel it's warm comfort and Amumu's fist collided with her face once again, launching her across the tiled floor. "Amumu…"

"This is tiresome… Amumu, finish this." Renekton called. "I'm going to check on the battle outside."

"Yes lord." Amumu approached Annie again.

"Amumu stop! Please, I don't want to play this game anymore…"

"But I do…" His hands balled into fists.

"I was scared!" She shouted, seemingly out of nowhere.

"What?" Amumu stopped.

"I was scared Amumu… I was there that night… When we stayed in this chamber, I was there. I heard you say you love me."

"I thought I did… But you would never love me... How can it be love if you don't love me? I can't even feel love…"

"You can! You can feel love."

"How do you know?"

Ashe fired another arrow, just to make sure a corpse was dead. They were finishing up, the last of the Yordlites had been cut down, and the Shadow Mongers were hailing their victory. Ashe approached An-Sheben, who was trying to pull her blade from a Yordlite skull.

"We did it," Ashe laughed.

"That we did." The Yordle smiled back.

"Do you think my immortal army would die so easily!?" A voice boomed over the sands. It came from the Citadel, but for the moment, there was nothing there. Until Renekton burst from the door, the stones that made up the wall flew out with him, his rage at an all time high. "Rise soldiers! Rise from death and serve me!"

"Renekton?" Ashe asked to herself.

"Suremond…" An-Sheben corrected, petrified with fear.

The Yordlite An-Sheben had just slain opened its eyes again and stood. All across the battlefield the fiends were standing again and continuing their bloody campaign. They weren't organized, there was no formation, Ashe knew this would lead to a slaughter but they were too disorganized to fall back.

"Fight or die?" An-Sheben drew both her daggers.

"Fight or die." Ashe nodded.

"Because I felt love for you." Annie painfully said from the floor.

"No… We're kids Annie… We don't understand love… We're just being silly." Amumu repeated robotically.

"Why did you come to Shurima?" She asked, standing, despite her bruises and blood.

"To find out if I could love you."

"Why did I tell you to go back to your people?"

"Because you hate me?" He guessed.

"No! Because I love you, you doofus!"

"I… What?"

"Haven't you ever heard of 'if you love something, let it go?'"

"No…"

"Well… It's an expression. I just wanted you to be happy, and I thought you'd be happier with your people."

"How could you have thought that? The only place I don't feel sad is with you."

Renekton grabbed a soldier and flung him in the air, slicing him in half as he flew and manically laughing afterwards. An ice arrow collided with his flesh and he looked over to where Ashe had taken the shot. "Frost Archer… There's no league here to save you this time! You die here, you die for real!" He charged at her.

"I don't know… I just, your father seemed so nice… Where is that guy? I wanted to burn him…"

"Renekton beat you to it" Amumu chuckled.

"Oh poop…" Annie kicked the ground in mocking disappointment.

"I'm so sorry Annie…" Amumu sat down.

"I'm sorry too" She sat next to him.

"I'm the worst friend ever."

"Same… Maybe together we can be the best worst friends ever." Annie smiled at him, with her bruised face.

"I'd like that" Amumu smiled for possibly the first time in his afterlife. Annie giggled and kissed his forehead, which caused Amumu's eyes to open wide. The loose bandages began to re-wrap themselves around Amumu and his eyes faded back to their yellow color. "Oh no… "Amumu sat up in realization. "Ms. Ashe is still outside with Renekton!" He cried to Annie and her eyes shot open as well.

"He have to hurry!" She tried to stand but the pain was a bit much for her.

"Come on," Amumu carried her in his arms, much like a prince would carry his princess. "We have to save Ms. Ashe!"

"Come back here!" Renekton drove his blade into the ground but Ashe evaded and fired another arrow into his armor hide. "You can't keep this up forever! Your army is dying as we speak!" He slammed his blade again, missing Ashe again.

His words were true however, the Shadow Mongers were losing numbers fast, and the Yordlites continued to stand every time they were knocked down. An-Sheben removed one's head, only to have it continue fighting, headless.

Renekton slammed his blade down, Ashe made an attempt to dodge, but her leg wasn't quick enough. "AH!" She let out, but tried to fight the pain. Her leg was essentially opened at this point, as Renekton laughed at her helplessness.

"Time to die Archer."

"No!" Amumu shouted and tackled the monstrous Crocodile.

"I knew I shouldn't have left you alone with that girl… Weakling, I'll put you down." Amumu didn't respond, he simply let his tantrum loose and began beating Renekton with every ounce of his being. Renekton kicked the mummy off and shook out his neck. "You'll pay for that…"

"Mommy!" Annie approached Ashe.

"Annie, I knew you could get to Amumu."

"But your leg."

"I'll be okay, you have to help Amumu, he can't beat Renekton by himself."

"I have a better idea." Annie evilly smiled and turned to where Renekton and Amumu were fighting. "Get him Tibbers!" She threw her toy, spawning the great Shadow Bear.

Tibbers latched itself onto Renekton's back, causing him to lose his balance and Amumu head butted the Croc, pushing him to the ground. Amumu looked up at Tibbers and Tibbers back at him. Amumu smiled at the bear, happy it was his ally once again, Tibbers punched Amumu in the face, knocking him over.

"Yeah… I deserved that."

"You both deserve to die!" Renekton stood. "But I need you alive," he looked at Amumu. "The bear can die though." Tibbers growled and Amumu stood ready for battle.

"Ashe!" An-Sheben ran next to her injured ally. "We can't win… If we don't do something now, all my people are going to die."

"What do you propose we do!?" Ashe said panicked by the amount of blood she'd lost.

"We need to kill the catalyst to stop their magic, and bind the soldiers to stone to stop them from coming back."

"But Amumu is the catalyst! He can't die!" Annie protested. "Can't we just bind them in stone and be done with it?"

"I'm afraid their magic protects from such a spell, until the catalyst is dead, our magic can't touch them. I'll need you too Annie."

"Why me?"

"Only Dark magic can enact the binding spell, you're the only dark magician here. I need you."

"I'm not letting you hurt Amumu!"

"We don't have a choice!" An-Sheben removed a blade from her cloak. "This blade will end him, I'll make it painless I promise." She then pulled out a scroll, "Read this as soon as he is dead." And with that An-Sheben took off.

"I don't like this Ms. Ashe…"

"I don't either… But it's for the good of Valoran. Be ready with that scroll."

Amumu bound Renekton to the spot and Tibbers socked the monster in the face. Renekton fell to the ground but was up again before Amumu could catch his breath. "You cannot defeat me…" Renekton gloated. He swung his blade and slashed through Tibber's arm, causing it to fall off.

"Amumu!" An-Sheben called and Amumu diverted his attention, opening a spot for Renekton to swat him away. "No…" She spoke.

"An-Sheben, last of your blood line. Ready to die for your cause?" Renekton laughed.

"Be gone demon."

"I am a God among mortals!" He cried and brought his blade crashing down. From across the battlefield, Amumu's bandage toss collided with Renekton and he pulled himself to the monster.

"Ah!" He cried as his head collided with Renekton's. This was far harder than Amumu planned and he fell to the ground rubbing it. "Ow…"

"Amumu!" An-Sheben called again and drew the blade. "Take this!" She threw it to him.

"I don't know how to use a sword!" Amumu called back.

"Not on him! On yourself! You're powering all these undead!" She cried before Renekton grabbed her neck and hoisted her into the air.

"You're blood line ends here traitor." Renekton whispered. His blade at her neck. "Your army; dead. You're allies; dying. You're plan; failed. I win. I am a true god!"

"No… I win this time." An-Sheben flashed a smile through her pain.

"I'm sorry Annie…" Amumu said to himself. He gripped the hilt of the blade and held it to his chest. He inhaled with his dead lungs, and let the breath go before plunging the blade into his flesh. Amumu gasped. It hurt, more than other wounds he'd sustained.

"No!" Annie and Renekton seemed to say in unison, only for completely different reasons.

Amumu tasted blood, it was an odd sensation, it wasn't sadness, which was nice. It was… Almost reliving, like he finally got to sleep after staying awake for months. He knew she wouldn't hear him, so he said screw it and said. "I love you Annie," He fell to his knees. "I love you so much." And collapsed on the floor.

"Amumu… No, no Amumu… Amumu can't die, he's already dead." Annie saw her friend fall to the sand and she left Ashe's side to run to her friend. "Amumu?" But there was no response. "Amumu you can't die. You're already dead." Still silence. "YOU CAN'T BE DEAD! YOU'RE ALREADY DEAD!" She cried. "I..." She picked up his head and rested it in her lap and pulled out the scroll An-Sheben handed her. "Val Lo men shin, chen vus chuus, co ten." The moment she read the words magic surged out of the scroll and flew over the battlefield.

A Shadow Monger watched as his weapon fell into the sand, and waited for the Yordlite to finish it. Only, the final blow never came, the solider peaked his eye open to see the Yordlite coated in stone, it's blade frozen in time. He tapped the stone a few times, and it was indeed frozen there. Every Yordlite on the battlefield suffered the same fate and became stone once again.

"This is not over!" Renekton cried over his stone army. "I will kill every last one of you!"

"No. You will not."

"That's a voice I have not heard in a long time…" Ashe said where she lay.

"Head Summoner Maxillian, at your service." Maxillian kindly spoke with a band of knights and summoners from the League.

"But… How did you know to come?" Ashe questioned.

"Nasus warned us to keep track of Shurima, it appears I was wise to listen to him. When Renekton disappeared from the institute, we headed out."

"Great timing…" An-Sheben muttered.

"Soldiers, restrain Renekton." Maxillian ordered and they did so in haste.

"You will all suffer!" Renekton called before being sacked by the band of knights and summoner restraints. Some men helped Ashe to her feet, as healers began their practice, others assisted any Shadow Mongers still kicking while the last few took stock of the strange statues.

Annie paid no mind to any of this. She didn't hear sounds, she didn't see the knights, she simply sat on her knees, in what once was a chaotic battlefield. She kept Amumu's head in her lap, slowly stroking it. As she ran her fingers through the bandages, her hand got caught and ripped one in half. It was now she realized, she had never seen his face. With care and a slow touch, she began unwinding the bandages of her friend. Layer after layer she peeled off until there was his face. His skin was no longer rotted, his flesh no longer dead, he looked very much alive. His skin was a soft tan color, like a well tanned human, his eyes were shut and his mouth looked calm. Annie touched his face, felt her skin against his, he was cold. He was dead.

"Annie?" Maxillian came to her and kneeled down. "Who's your friend?"

"This…" Annie tried to hold back her tears again. "This is Amumu."

"Hm…" Maxillian examined the little body. "I suppose it is."

"Can…" She tried rubbing her eye to no avail. "Can you fix him?"

"You cannot 'fix' death Annie."

"But others have!" She quickly protested. "What about that Sion guy? Or Urgot? They all died, and now their walking around."

"That is Noxus' dark magic at work. However I suppose, you could bring him back but I simply cannot. Necromancy is not a spell class I deemed worthy of learning."

"So… So I could bring him back!?" Annie sat up, with hope in her eyes.

"Perhaps, it took the best Noxian necromancers to reanimate Sion and Urgot, and they do not give up that information easily."

"But you're saying I could!?" Annie stood on her feet. It was clear he was not getting anywhere so Maxillian sighed.

"Yes, that's what I'm saying."

"Then… Then I'll never give up!" She protested. "I won't give up until I have my best friend back!"


	10. Day by Day

Eight Years Later.

The streets of Noxus were crowded today, people walked in the pouring rain, their cloaks shielding them from the cold. It was a grey day and the people walked through the streets with despair and boredom, as if there truly was nothing worth loving in this blackened city. From the slow moving crowd, one hooded figure pushed past the others. Her cloak hid her face and fire red hair as she ran, a satchel slung over her shoulder and her cloak could not contain her excitement. She ran, hopped and skipped in the rain, running past every one until she stopped at a small tenet building. She ran up the stairs, burst through the front door and ascended up into her tenet. Her hands failed her for a moment while she fiddled with the door and its key, but made it inside, slammed the door behind her and released the biggest sigh of her life.

"This will be the day."She grinned and threw her cloak off. An eight teen year old Annie walked through her little tenet and rifled through her bag until she retrieved a necromancy tome and beheld it for a minute. She kept her hair short, and had to adorn Noxian dull clothing to fit in, but she didn't care. Today would be the day. She opened the book and flipped through its pages until coming to one particular spell. "One dragon's eye" She read and went to her shelves of ingredients. "Got that last week…" She pushed some jars aside. "Dragon's eye!" She held the jar and ran back to the book, knocking over a chair, as a small teddy bear fell on the ground with it. "Oh, sorry Tibbers," She carefully set the chair back up and delicately placed Tibbers on top. "Um… three Hag's fangs… Crap, did I get those? Oh I so did!" She cheered. "Alright, um… um, um, two harpy beaks…" She pulled these from her bag as well. "Pain in the ass to get… And boil it all in Griffon's blood." Annie lifted a caldron onto the table. "I think I have everything…"

It took time, but she had done it. She had assembled everything she needed and was ready to do what she had sworn to do eight years ago. Annie stood over the caldron, stirring it all with a large stick in classic wicked witch fashion and chanted. "Roc-Tu-Show, Roc-Tu-Show," She looked back at the book. "Roc-Tu-Show? Oh! Oh, Roc-Ta-Show, I thought it sounded off… Damnit, Roc-Ta-Show. Roc-Ta-Show."She continued this for forty minutes, as the book prescribed until the stew had become a vibrant green color. She took a small vile, and dipped it into the stew. "Come on Tibbers, we're going back to Shurima." She grabbed her bear and headed out.

An-Sheben watched as her daughter hit the target with the knife provided for her. "Very nice." She praised the little Yordle. "Go inside and I'll make you some dinner." And the Yordle did so. The former assassin had aged, Yordle lives were far shorter than that of humans, but she still could kill a man in less than four seconds.

"An-Sheben!" Annie called and she turned.

"Ah, the little red head who tried to incinerate me all those years ago."

"Yeah… Sorry about that…"

"I tease Annie, it's lovely to see you."

"And, same to you," Annie bowed.

"Did you come to try another formula?"

"I really think I've gotten it this time." And An-Sheben just chuckled.

"You know, if I open his tomb too many times, he won't be preserved any longer."

"That's okay, he'll be alive after this." She held the green vile in a triumphant pose which let An-Sheben chuckle again.

She led Annie through the cave the Shadow Mongers still dwelled in, always keeping watch over Shurima. She walked past the urban quarter, past the barracks and temples, all the way to the catacombs. There, in a great display, was the tomb of Amumu, or Tu-Tenka as they knew him here.

"I still think the League should've let us keep those statues here…" An-Sheben complained.

"Oh hush," Annie smiled and approached the tomb, as she had done before. She pushed the covering off just enough so she could see the little mummy's face, only slightly worse for wear than it had been when he died a second time. "Drink up," She slid the contents of the vile down his throat and waited. She waited and waited. Then waited and waited some more.

"Annie I'm going to make dinner for my daughter." An-Sheben called and left as Annie continued to wait.

"No… No, no!" She banged her hands against the stone tomb. "No! What did I do wrong this time!?" She sat on the ground and pulled the dark book out once again. "The Summoner Necromancer spell." Annie read from the book. "The ultimate necromancy spell, this spell will allow the caster to reanimate a living soul that has been dead for… Twelve months!?" She stopped. "Twelve months? What kinda ultimate spell are you! I'm trying to save the love of my life here!" She threw the book down and let it slide across the floor. "Wait… I can't reanimate his body… but maybe I don't have to… Maybe I just need his spirit…! An-Sheben! An-Sheben! You still have that weird pool thingy!?"

Twelve Months Later.

"Please. Please, I'm begging you to come back to me…" Annie said to the corpse on the table. Over the past year, she had assembled little bits and pieces from human specimens, she pulled a Dr. Frankenstein and crafted, what she believed to be, the perfect body for her friend. "Please work." She carried the corpse to the pool of memories, and dipped it into the water. Kissing its forehead before it submerged. This time she didn't chant. She sung. "Hmmm, hmmm," She lightly hummed and rubbed the corpses head. "En Ta Kay, Lo mi saw, Le Ka Shei no mi so, Hmmm, hmmm" She sat in the water, fully clothed for a minute, then two, then three, and then an hour. She sat in the water unsure of when her spell would take effect, but if this didn't work, she didn't have anything left. "Please Amumu… Please come back."

This seemed to be another failure and Annie felt the hope slip away from her again. She let go of the corpse and let it float for a minute before standing in the pool, her expression stoic and regretful. Then, small splashing, or air bubbles breaking the surface of the water. She turned back to her creation and saw nothing. She watched again and its figure moved, next came its toes, before all at once, the corpse burst from the water, gasping for breath. "Huh! Huh! What… How?" It seemed to say. "Where am I? Why am I wet?"

"Sh, sh…" Annie silenced the thing. "What is your name?"

"I…" The corpse tried to think. "I… Am… Amu," It struggled to formulate words.

"Amumu!?" Annie fell back into the pool with the corpse.

"Yes." It nodded and looked into her eyes. With its new eyes, it studied her only for a moment before coming to a realization. "Annie?"

"Yes!" She cheered. "Yes Amumu, it's me!"

"You're… So tall and you're hair is longer." Annie almost seemed to be crying at this point. "I'm so sorry, did I offend you?"

"Amumu you're back!" She hugged him in the shallow pool and she pulled away. "Are you still sad?"

"Only when I'm not with you." He smiled. She couldn't take it anymore, she had to let her best friend know how glad she was that he was back. She bent down in the water and kissed his lips with all the emotion she had pinned up for her entire adult life. "I love you." She said with tears of joy.

"I love you too," He said with his new smile and new lips. "Can I still wear bandages?"

"Of course you can still wear bandages you goof. I'm just glad you're back."

**And thus! I end this fic. I pray to god you liked it after you waited so long... Maybe you want to find me and beat me to death with a stick... If that's the case, I offer my sincerest apologize and you'll be happy to know I think I'll stick to oneshots for awhile... Long stories are... not my Forte. Anyway, I think I'll continue this idea of older Annie and Franken Amumu... Maybe in a oneshot or somthing, anyway! that's it and have a lovely evening.**


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